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Socialist Readings for Ckildren 


BY 

JOHN SPARGO 

n 


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
BY 

Edward Scholl 



PUBLISHED BY 

The Woman s National Progressive League 

200 WILLIAM STREET. NEW YORK 





COPYRIGHT 1909 
BY 


THS woman’s national PROGRESSIVE LEAGUE 



ot CONGRESS 

Two C0'»!>- 

MAY 3 1809 

COpyiUs:! ^ 







To-*my children . 
GEORGE and MARY 

and 

all their little Socialist comrades 




V 


I 



A BIG SECRET 


Once upon a time I knew a little boy. Of course, I know 
a great many little boys, but this little boy was not like any of the 
others. His name was Samuel, but his mother and father called 
him "*Sam.” Well, Sam could not speak very well, for he was 
only a tiny chap, and when he was asked to tell his name he would 
say “Tam,** and look as proud as if he were a Member of Con¬ 
gress—or a policeman. 

“Tam** and I were good friends, and he used to come to the 
Socialist hall when I spoke there. You never saw a little boy sit 
so still in all your life! Well, one night as we were going home 
—“Tam** sitting on my shoulder—he asked me why I did not “w*ite 
a book wif pictures to *splain the hard fings to little boys like Tam.** 
He meant the hard things about Socialism. 

I told “Tam** that I would do it, “honor bright.** And now 
I have done it as best I can. But “Tam** has grown up to be 
nearly a man. You see, though I am a big, grown-up boy, I am 
like little boys, fond of putting off things from day to day. So 
“Tam** is grown up and I am afraid he will not like the book after 
all. But I hope you will. I’ve tried “to ’splain the hard fings for 
little boys like Tam*’—and for little girls, too. 


JOHN SPARGO. 










CONTENTS 


First Reading—The First Socialist. 

Second Reading—The Story of Robert Owen 

Third Reading—Sail on the River . . . . 

Fourth Reading—The Socialist Meeting . 

Fifth Reading—The Red Flag. 

Sixth Reading—A Little Talk on Evolution 
Seventh Reading—Old Peter Tells a Story . 

Eighth Reading—The Meaning of May Day 
Ninth Reading—Agnes Writes a Socialist Story . 
Tenth Reading—A Little Talk about Karl Marx . 
Eleventh Reading—Old Peter’s Story of a Strange Land 
A Short Catechism. 


9 

16 

27 

38 

48 

59 

73 

82 

92 

101 

113 

124 




FIRST READING 

THE FIRST SOCIALIST 


Mr. Webb sat at a big desk in the middle of his cosy, 
bright study. He was busy writing a new book. You must 
know that Mr. Webb was a very learned man, who wrote books 
about the lives of people who lived thousands of years ago. As 
the sheets of paper, covered with fine, small writing, fell to the 
floor, they were picked up, very gently and quietly, by Miss 
Brooks, a pretty young lady, who then made neat copies of them 
upon the typewriter. 

The click, click, click of the keys of the typewriter, and 
the tick, tick, tick of the clock upon the mantelpiece made the 
only noise in the room. People who write books cannot work 
well if they are disturbed by noise, you see. 

The study was such a big room as only a few homes con¬ 
tain. The walls were lined with shelves of books. How many 
books there were in the room it would be hard to say. There 
must have been at least five thousand, and perhaps very many 
more. The books were of many sizes and colors. Some were 
big, heavy, ugly looking things in shabby black covers, not a bit 
nice to look at. Others were bright and cheerful volumes in 
green, red, blue, yellow, and brown covers. Some of the books 
were printed in English, but there were some in French, Ger¬ 
man, and other languages. The sunlight shining upon them made 
a lovely picture. 

Perhaps you think the room looked like a bookstore, but it 


10 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


did not. There were other things besides books, you see. Over 
the shelves there were beautiful pictures, painted by great artists, 
some of whom were Mr. Webb’s friends. There were also 
handsome marble busts and bronze figures of animals and human 
beings. Some of these had been made by clever sculptors, and 
given to Mr. Webb; others were copies of famous Greek statues, 
thousands of yeans old. You have seen copies like them in the 
museum. 

In a big glass case at one end of the room there were hun¬ 
dreds of fossils and all kinds of minerals. Some of the minerals 
looked just like the stones you see upon the streets sometimes, 
while others were very beautiful. There were bits of white 
quartz in which you could see the specks of yellow gold ore, and 
some looked almost like glass. These fossils and minerals came 
from all parts of the world. 

Perhaps you will wonder why Mr. Webb had so many 
books, and fossils, and stones. Well, he was a very wise and 
learned man, as I have told you, and the pictures, and books, and 
stones were as useful to him as tools are to the mason or the 
carpenter. 

The clock was just striking the noon hour when the door of 
the study was pushed open with a loud bang, and five children 
rushed into the room, making a great noise. If you could have 
seen Mr. Webb s face just then you would have known that he 
was not pleased, for there was a frown upon it. He was very 
angry. I think he was going to scold Rob, his oldest son, but he 
did not. You must know that the children were never allowed 
to enter the study. 






THE FIRST SOCIALIST II 


But when Mr. Webb looked up, he saw that with Rob and 
his sister, May, there were their three English cousins, George, 
Agnes, and Willie. Mr. Webb knew then that his son and 
daughter were excited by the visit of the three cousins they had 
never seen before, and who had just arrived from England. So 
he forgave them for breaking the rule. He kissed May and 
Agnes and patted the three boys on their heads, saying a pleas¬ 
ant word to each of them. Like most great and wise men, he 
was very fond of boys and girls, and loved to join their play 
sometimes. 

While Mr. Webb was asking George many questions about 
English life, and about the voyage across the ocean on a wonder¬ 
ful steamer, the other children were taking a good look at all the 
things in the room. Rob was looking at the fossils and minerals, 
trying hard to read the big Latin names printed upon the labels; 
May and Willie were trying quite as hard to read the titles of 
the books; Agnes was looking at a 
group of curious old portraits of 
men and women in queer dress. 

“What a funny old man that 
is, uncle!” cried Agnes, pointing to 
one of the portraits and laughing 
loudly. “Do old gentlemen in this 
country all dress like that?” 

“No, Agnes. That is not the 
picture of an American, but of a 
great man from your own country. 

At least, he came from Wales, 







12 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


which is, as you know, united with England. But all good Amer¬ 
icans think very kindly of him and honor his memory. He was 
a great and good man, and that is why I keep his picture there. 
His name was Robert Owen. He lived a long time ago, when 
old gentlemen in England and America wore those funny hats. 
He was, I have been told, the first man who ever called himself 
a Socialist.” 

”But, Uncle, you said he was a good man,” replied Agnes. 
“I heard our minister at home say in his sermon one Sunday 
morning that Socialists are all very nasty, wicked people, who 
ought to be shut up in prison and given dry bread to eat. He 
said that the Socialists are enemies of the whole world, and 
that Socialism is an awful thing.” 

Mr. Webb laughed aloud at this, and so did Miss Brooks, 
who had stopped her work to listen. Then he took Agnes by 
the hand and spoke gravely: 

‘T suppose, dear, that your friend the minister is a very 
good man. There are many good people who believe that all 
Socialists are wicked people who ought to be kept in dark pris¬ 
ons. But 1 think they are mistaken. You do not know me well 
yet, but I assure you that I am not a very bad man—Am I, 
May?” 

“No, indeed, you are not, papa; You are tne oest man in 
all the world, I believe,” replied May with earnest voice, at the 
same time placing her cheek against his. 

“Yes, that is what Mamma has always told us about you, 
dear Uncle,” added Agnes. 

Of course Mr. Webb was very pleased by the children’s 




THE FIRST SOCIALIST 


13 


praise. Then he said very gently: “ I hope you will not have to 
form any other opinion of me, Agnes, than that which May has. 
I want so to live that you will always think so kindly of me. But 
I am a Socialist, my dear. For many years I have been trying 
to teach Socialism to others.” 

“Then it cannot be a wicked thing, after all,” said Agnes. 
“And it was very wrong of our minister to say such things.” 

“Dear little one,” replied her Uncle, “he was sincere and 
meant well. He thought he was right, I have no doubt. But 
there are many very sincere people who are not very wise, I am 
sorry to say, and we must try not to judge them unkindly when 
they make mistakes. There are also many people who are good 
and wise as well as sincere, and still make mistakes. There are 
so many things in the world to study, you see, that no one can 
ever learn them all. I used to think that Socialism was a very 
bad thing myself, until 1 read many books about it and learned 
how good and noble it is. 

“ But Uncle,” said Agnes quickly, “is it not very wrong to 
judge anything until we know all about it ? Mamma always says 
we must not say that a thing is wrong until we can prove that it 
is wrong. And I feel sure that it must be wrong to call people 
hard names unless you can prove that they deserve the names.” 

“That is true, dear Agnes. Your mother is a wise 
woman,” said Mr. Webb. “I hope you will never forget that. 
As you grow older, new and strange things will be said to you, 
some wise and some foolish; some good and some evil. It will 
be hard to make up your mind sometimes. But do not judge 
hastily. Do not condemn people or ideas until you understand 






14 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


them. Keep your mind open to the truth. Do not approve a 
thing until you are sure you understand it, and do not condemn 
a thing until you know it to be wrong. If all people were as 
wise as your mother, and acted in that spirit, this world would 
be a very happy place to live in, Agnes.*' 

Just then the bell rang, calling them all to lunch. 

“Come, children, we must all go to the dining-room for 
our lunch,” said Mr. Webb. 

“Oh dear, I am so sorry,” said Agnes. “I wanted to hear 
about Robert Owen, the man in the picture, and about Socialism. 
I wish you would tell us something about them this afternoon, 
uncle.” 

“Yes, papa, please do,” cried Rob and May together. 

Then Mrs. Webb spoke. She had come to bid the children 
hasten to their lunch and heard their plea. Placing her hand upon 
the head of little Agnes and speaking very gently, she said: “I 
know, dear Agnes, that your uncle will not be able to give you 
any of his time this afternoon, for he has much work to do. But 
1 have time enough, and, if you will let me, I shall be very glad 
to tell you about Robert Owen. I am a Socialist too, you know, 
and 1 am very fond of talking to boys and girls about Socialism. 
Will you all come with me for a walk in the park, where we can 
sit under the trees and talk about this very wonderful man?” 

“Oh yes, thank you!” cried the two little girls, clapping 
their hands. “You are very kind, dear aunt,” said Agnes, as 
she kissed Mrs. Webb and gave her a great big hug. Rob and 
George thanked her, too, but not so loudly as the girls. Willie, I 
almost forgot to say, was too much interested in the bronze bust 






THE FIRST SOCIALIST 


15 


ol President Lincoln to notice the talk. But of course he went 
with the others to the park after lunch. 

Later on I shall tell you the story Mrs. Webb told her chil¬ 
dren and their English cousins as they sat upon the grass under 
one of the big oak trees in the park. I think you will like the 
story. Robert Owen was not the first man in the world to have 
Socialist ideas in his mind, but he was the first man to call 
himself a Socialist. That was long ago, in the year eighteen 
hundred and thirty-three. 


QUESTIONS 

What was the name of the funny old man in the picture ? 
Was he an American? What did he call himself? When did 
he first use the word Socialism''? What did the minister say 
about Socialism ? Is it wrong to say that anything is bad unless 
you are quite sure ? What were the children to go to the park 
for? 






SECOND READING 



THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 


When Mrs. Webb and the children reached the park they 
went at once to a quiet, well-shaded spot where they could sit 
upon the soft green grass 
and watch the big white 
swans swimming grace¬ 
fully on the pond. A giant 
oak tree spread its branch¬ 
es over the spot, keeping 
the grass cool and making 
a shelter from the burn¬ 
ing rays of the sun. 

“ This is beautiful,” 
said George. ‘Tt is quite 
like a bit of English coun¬ 
try. See, there are but¬ 
tercups, too.” 

“Yes, it is something 
like home,” Agnes said 
slowly, “only 1 miss the 
skylark. When you go 
out and sit under the trees 
in our old home in the day¬ 
time, you can always hear the skylarks singing away so sweetly. 
Sometimes they are so far up that they look like little black 















THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 17 


specks against the sky. That is why they are called skylarks, I 
suppose. Have you no skylarks here, Auntie?” 

“ No, dear, I am very sorry that we have not,” replied Mrs. 
Webb. ‘T often wish we had, for though I have never seen a 
skylark, or heard one sing, I know that the song must be very 
sweet and happy. I have read many times the “Ode to a 
Skylark,” by your poet Shelley, and I know that Shelley could 
never have written verses so beautiful if the song of the skylark 
were not sweet and happy. But shall we talk about skylarks and 
poetry this afternoon, or about Robert Owen?” 

“Oh, about Robert Owen, please. Aunt,” said Agnes, and 
all the other children said that they, too, would rather hear the 
story of Robert Owen. So Mrs. Webb began the story: 

“Robert Owen was born in a little town in North Wales, in 
1771, when our country was still under the rule of the English 
government.” 

When Mrs. Webb had got to this point, Rob, just to show 
his cousins how well he had learned his history lessons, said “Yes. 
We were under King George then, for the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence was made in 1776.” 

“You are quite right,” said his mother sweetly. “Robert 
Owen was a very little fellow, only just five years old then. He 
must have been a sharp little fellow, for when he was not more 
than seven years old he could read and write and do sums which 
were quite hard. All the people in the village thought he was a 
very clever little boy, and when he used to go through the streets 
of the village riding upon his father's cream-colored pony, of 
which he was very fond, many of the people would say that he 





18 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 



was very clever to be able to read and write, and that some day 
he would be a very wise man.” 

“And did he really grow up to be a very wise man ? ” asked 
Willie. 

“Yes, dear, but you must not ask questions about the end 
of the story. If you do, it will spoil the story, you see. Well, 
when little Robert was only eight years old he could read and 
write so well that grown-up people who could not read or write 
would get Robert to read the news from the papers for them, 
and to write letters for them.” 

“But, Aunt Mary, I thought that all grown-up people could 
read and write,” said George. “Why were these people unable 
to read and write?” 

“Well, dear, you must know that in England in those days, 
and even in Afnerica, there were no public schools, such as we 
have to-day. Only the people who could afford to pay for having 











THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 19 


their children taught were able to send their little boys and girls to 
school. Most of the poor people never did send their children, 
so when they grew up they could not read or write. It is differ¬ 
ent now in England and in this country, for schools are built so 
that every child can get some education. 

Little Robert Owen was always reading. Books were not so 
cheap in those days, you know, and most people, except the very 
rich, had only a few books. But the people in the village were 
glad to lend what books they had to little Robert, for he was a 
very good boy and never tore the books or made them dirty. 
They were glad to help the boy because they thought that he 
would one day be a very great man. 

“ Robert wanted to be a very wise man. If any of the peo¬ 
ple asked him what he would like to be when he grew to be a 
man, he would say, ‘To be the wisest man in the world.’ And 
if any one ever asked him what he wished most of all, he would 
say, ‘To go to college and learn.’ But Robert’s father was not 
rich enough to send him to school very long, and to college after 
that. He would have liked to send the boy to college, but that 
cost a great deal of money, and Mr. Owen was a poor man. 

“What a big shame!” May cried out. “But if he had no 
money to pay for sending Robert to college, could he not have 
gone to some rich people and begged the money?” 

“ Perhaps he could, dear. I do not know about that. But 
it is not a nice thing to beg, unless one is really sick or hungry. 
Mr. Owen was a good man, and I suppose that he would much 
rather that Robert did not go to school or to college than beg for 
the money to pay for it. So that when Robert was not more 






20 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


than ten years old he was sent to work. He was sent away to 
London, where one of his brothers lived, and became an appren¬ 
tice to a draper. Of course, it was very hard upon little Robert, 
but he was not so much to be pitied as most small boys and girls 
were who had to work in the factories. They were beaten by 
cruel men when they made mistakes, but Robert was treated 
kindly by Mr. McGulFeg, his master. 

“ He had to work very hard, but at night, when the shop 
was closed, and on Sundays, Robert was given a chance to read 
as many books as he could read from his master’s library. He 
was so much in earnest, so anxious to study, to become a wise 
man, that he never missed a chance to learn any new thing. It 
was very hard to study without a teacher to help him, but Robert 
kept on. And by the time he was a man, though he never went 
to college, he knew a great many things. This shows us that a 
boy can do much if he tries with all his might. 

‘‘We have not time this afternoon to follow him through all 
these years, but you will be glad to know that when he was just 
eighteen years old he had made so much progress that he was 
in business, and by the time he was twenty years old, he was 
manager of a big cotton mill with more than five hundred work 
people under him. And perhaps you will be interested to know 
that the very first cotton from America ever used in an English 
mill was used by Robert Owen. He was the first to spin any 
of our American cotton into yarn. 

“I have said that many poor children had to work in the 
factories, and that they were often beaten by the cruel men who 
took charge of them. Robert Owen saw this. He saw that in 






THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 21 


the mills, of which he was manager, there were little boys and 
girls not more than six years old working. Of course, he would 
not let the men in his mills beat little children, but he could not 
stop the men in other mills from doing it. He joined with a 
number of other good men and started a movement for reform. 
They did not stop until they had a law made which put an end 
to some, though not all, of the evils of child labor in the cotton 
mills.” 

“Then I am sure that he was a very good man,” said 
Agnes, “and that our minister at home was wrong when he said 
that all Socialists are wicked, nasty people.” 

“Yes, Agnes, Robert Owen was a noble man. I cannot 
tell you of all the good things he did, for that would take too 
long. When he got a big factory in Scotland, he did many things 
to make the work-people happy. He built nice houses for them 
to live in instead of poor houses; he had schools started for the 
children, so that they could get education free. I think the free 
schools he started for little children were the first of the kind in 
Great Britain, And once, when the cotton mills were closed for 
four months, and all over England there was great poverty and 
suffering because so many people were out of work, he gave all 
the people in his mill their wages every week, so that they did 
not suffer at all. 

“ Of course, he was loved by all his work-people after that. 
They knew how good and kind he was. And all the people in 
New Lanark, which was the name of the place, were so much 
better off, and so happy, that wise men from all over the world 
used to go there to see just how Owen had made things so much 






22 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


better than they were in any other place where there were cotton 
mills. One of his best friends was the Duke of Kent, the grand¬ 
father of King Edward of England, Agnes. 

“But Robert Owen knew that there was still something 
wrong, even at New Lanark. He knew that the people who made 
all the cotton yarn from the raw cotton fibers were poor, and that 
made him wonder why. He wanted to know why the people who 
make all the good things in the world, all the clothes, shoes, 
houses, ships, and so on; who do all the hard work, are so often 
poor, and why people who do not work hard are very often rich. 
He thought about it all the time, and even dreamed about it. 
Then, one day, he said he had found out a way by which all peo¬ 
ple could be made happy, and he called the plan Socialism. 

“ He thought that if, instead of a few people owning the land 
and the mines and the factories, all the people owned them to¬ 
gether—just as all the people own this park between them, and 
own all the streets, then all the people would work, and all would 
enjoy the good things they made, just as all the people in the city 
can enjoy this park, or the public streets. 

“He tried to prove that such a plan would be possible for 
the whole of England and America by starting little colonies. In 
these colonies there would be a lot of families, and all the men 
would work the same number of hours, and then all the goods 
would be divided up. If any were sold, then the money would 
be divided among the people, so that all would have the same 
share. If that plan were followed, he told the people of England 
and this country, there would be no poverty in the world and vice 
and crime would be done away with. 






THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 


23 


“He started one oi these colonies in this country, on the 
banks oi the Wabash river, in Indiana. He named the place 
New Harmony, because he believed that there would be harmony 
and peace among the people. He started a very wonderful free 
school for children, and there was a boy living not far away who 
wanted to go to New Harmony in order that he might be able to 
attend the school. He was like Robert Owen had been when he 
was a boy: he wanted to be a wise and learned man. And 
though he could not go to New Harmony, he did become a wise 
and learned man, one of the very wisest and noblest men 
America has ever had. Can you guess who it was, Rob?” 

“Was he a soldier?” asked Rob. 

“No, but he was the President of the United States.” 

“Was it President Lincoln?” asked Rob then. 

“Yes. It was President Lincoln who, when he was a boy, 
longed to join Robert Owen’s Socialist colony in order that he 
might go to school there. I sometimes wonder whether the 
ideas which he got at that time from all the talk about Robert 
Owen and his plan to bring about Socialism made him the great 
and good man he was. I like to think that if President Lincoln 
were living to-day he would be a Socialist. 

“Robert Owen worked hard to make a success of his 
colony at New Harmony, but he failed. Some people were lazy 
and would not work; some were selfish and wanted more than 
their share of the good things; some were unkind to their neigh¬ 
bors, and so the plan failed. I have brought with me a picture 
of New Harmony as it used to look in those days, long before 
the Civil War, so that you may see what a beautiful place it was. 




24 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


You can see the river and the homes in which the people used 
to live.” 

All the children gathered around Mrs. Webb to look at the 
picture of New Harmony, and Willie made the others all laugh by 
asking his aunt if the man in the picture, so small that you could 
hardly see him, was Robert Owen. Then, when they had all 
looked at the picture, Agnes asked whether all Socialists believe 
in Robert Owen’s plan, and whether Socialism means that all the 
people in the country must work so many hours each every day 
and then divide up all the money and all the good things, and that if 
papa has more money than somebody else he must give up part of it. 

“No, Agnes dear,” replied Mrs. Webb. “The Socialists of 
our day do not believe that they should go away 
and start little colonies by themselves. They do 
not believe that any plan for dividing the wealth 
^of the country in equal shares will succeed. 
They do not follow Owen’s plans, but they 
honor him as a great and good man. The 
^word Socialism does not mean to us what it 
meant to Owen and the people who lived in 
his time. For words change 
their meaning, you know. 
When anyone calls a 
man ‘ Mister ’ to-day, 
that is simply a term 
of respect, but it was once 
used only by slaves or serfs 
toward their masters. 






THE STORY OF ROBERT OWEN 25 


“ So the meaning of the word Socialism has changed since 
Owen used it. The Socialist of to-day wants to see poverty 
done away with, as well as all crime and vice. He wants to see 
all people happy and free; to do away with the great evils which 
come from some people owning all the land, mines, railroads, and 
factories. We do not want all people to be equal, and we know 
that they cannot be. We do not want to divide the wealth of 
the world in equal shares among all the people. What we want 
is to get a change made in the government of the country which 
will give every child born into the world an equal chance to live 
and grow, and to lead a happy life. 

** We want the land and the mines, the railroads and most of 
the big factories and stores, to be made the property of all the 
people, so that all may enjoy the benefits of them. We do this 
now in a great many things—in our public parks, our streets, our 
public schools, our museums, and very many other good things 
which are founded on the principle of Socialism. And we want 
this done by the people through the government of the country. 

“ I think we must be going home now, for it is getting late. 
If you want to know more about Socialism, I will try to tell you 
what you wish to know to-morrow afternoon. We are all to go 
for a sail upon the river, and we can talk about it as we sail 
along. Do you think you will want to talk about it again, or 
would you rather talk about something else. 

All the children said they wanted to talk about Socialism, 
and to learn all about it. Then they left the park and went home. 
Mr. Webb met the party at the door and asked the children what 
they had learned about Robert Owen. 






26 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


“He was a good man,” said Willie. 

“He could read and write when he was only seven years 
old,” said May. 

“He started free schools lor children in England,” said 
George. 

“President Lincoln wanted to go to Robert Owen’s school 
at New Harmony when he was a boy,” said Rob, proud of his 
new learning. 

“ He was a good man who loved the little children, and tried 
to make the world happy,” said Agnes very gravely. “I think 
that all Socialists must be good people. Uncle.” 

And Mr. Webb smiled as if he were well pleased with what 
the children had said. 


QUESTIONS 

In what country was Robert Owen born ? Who ruled 
America then? How old was Robert when he learned to read and 
write? Did he go to college? Why? What law did Owen 
and other good men get passed? What did he do for his work¬ 
people in Scotland? Where did he start a colony in America? 
Who wanted to go to school there ? Do Socialists start colonies 
now ? What do Socialists want ? 




THIRD READING 

A SAIL ON THE RIVER 


Mr. Webb was a rich man, as you may have guessed when 
I told you of the beautiful things in his home. There were many 
people who could not understand why a rich man should be a Social¬ 
ist. They thought that only very poor people who did not have nice 
homes to live in, nice food to eat, and nice clothes to wear, could 
be Socialists. 

When these people asked Mr. Webb about it, he would 
always say: “ I cannot be happy with all my good things so long 
as there are other people who are poor and hungry and sad. 
I am a Socialist because I believe that every man and woman, 
and every child, ought to have a chance to enjoy the good things 
of life. All people ought to have good homes, good food, and 
good clothes. Some day, when we all become wiser, and kinder 
to each other, there will be no poor people in the world. That 
will be Socialism.’' 

When Mr. Webb talked to people like that they would often 
become Socialists too. Then they would call him “Comrade,” 
the name which all the Socialists give each other. The word 
“Comrade” is used by Socialists all over the world, and means 
that those who are called by the name are friends, devoted to one 
common cause. Some of the people who called Mr. Webb 
“Comrade Webb” were very poor, and lived in poor homes, but 
they did not think about that when they met, and it made no 
difference to their friendship. 


28 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Being a rich man, Mr. Webb had many things which poor 
men cannot aflPord to buy. He had an automobile and a steam 
yacht. The automobile was a big red touring car with brass 
lamps. The steam yacht was a beautiful thing, painted white 
and gold. Mr. Webb was very proud of the yacht, the name of 
which was “Freedom.” 1 think Mr. Webb chose that name for 
his yacht because he thought that Freedom was the most precious 
thing in life. And then, also, when people read the name upon 
the yacht they would sometimes talk about freedom, and that led 
them to think about Socialism. For there will never be true 
freedom for all the people until we have Socialism. 

But I must not keep on talking about Mr. Webb, for you 
want to know about Mrs. Webb and the children and their sail 
upon the river. Well, just as they were getting ready to leave 
the house, Mr. Webb joined them. He had two big baskets in 
his hands, and they were full of nice things to eat. There were 
nuts and fruit, as well as many other good things. When the 
boys and girls knew that he was going with them, they were very 
glad and clapped their hands in glee. They all loved him very 
dearly, you see. 

But they were even more happy when they saw the automo¬ 
bile stop in front of the house and heard it go “ honk,” “ honk,” 
“honk.” George, Agnes and Willie had never been in an auto¬ 
mobile in their lives, and it made Mr. Webb very happy to see 
how excited they were about it. 

Rob and George got in front beside the driver. May and 
Agnes got in the two little seats, and then Mr. and Mrs. Webb, 
with Willie in between, got in the last seat. The driver moved 






A SAIL ON THE RIVER 29 


a lever, and off they went, with a “ honk,’’ “ honk,” “ honk,” mak¬ 
ing dogs and cats run for their very lives. Away they went, 
down the avenue, past the park, through a cross-street into a part 
of the town where the houses were all poor and ugly looking. 
Great big tenements they were, with iron fire escapes in front. 
The streets were very dirty and crowded with little children. 
Mothers sat in the doorways holding their babies. Most of the 
babies were crying because it was very hot. 

They had to go slowly through this part of the city, for fear 
that they would run over some of the children who were playing 
in the street. I don’t think the boys took much notice of any¬ 
thing except the manner in which the driver steered the machine. 
They were busy asking questions about all parts of the auto¬ 
mobile. But the girls were all the time watching the little chil¬ 
dren on the streets. 

“See how poor they are, and how ragged and dirty their 
clothes are!” cried May. “Poor little boys and girls, it is too 
bad that they cannot have nice homes to live in, and nice things 
to wear.” 

“Why are they so poor. Uncle?” asked Agnes. “Why 
do they have to live in such poor homes and to wear ragged 
clothes? Have they not got good fathers and mothers like other 
children?” 

“Oh yes, dear Agnes,” replied her Uncle. “Their fathers 
and mothers are just as loving and kind as the fathers and 
mothers of the richer children. Some of my Comrades live in 
these tenements, and I know that they are good men and women 
who love their children very dearly. Do you not see the mothers 






30 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


sitting in the doorways nursing their little babies? See how 
tender and loving they look! But they are very poor. The 
fathers work hard and do their best for their children, but they 
get small wages, and so must live in these terrible places. I 
brought you this way just because I wanted you to see how sad 
and ugly the lives of many little children must be. Now you 
know why I am a Socialist, why I want the people to change these 
things. Under Socialism everything will be better.” 

“How will it be better. Uncle? What will Socialism do to 
make things better?” asked Agnes. 

“There are so many ways in which Socialism will make 
things better for the people who live in these ugly places that I 
can hardly think of them all,” replied Mr. Webb. “ In the first 
place, under Socialism, there will be no such ugly homes as these, 
but all people will have homes as nice as our home. Then the 
little babies will have a better chance. They will not grow pale 
and thin and sick and die for lack of good air. Poor mothers 
will not have to sleep out upon the fire escapes, and even upon 
the hard sidewalks, as they do now during these hot nights. 
Fathers and mothers will not have to work hard for small wages, 
and so be unable to give their little ones good food and clothes, 
but all little girls and boys will be just as happy and well cared 
for as you are, my children.” 

“Oh, I do wish Socialism would come soon!” cried May 
very earnestly. 

Just then they turned a corner and in another minute they 
were at the dock, ready to go aboard the yacht which lay waiting 
for them. The children were very happy as they got on the 





‘‘WHY ARE THEY SO POOR. UNCLE?” 































32 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


yacht, the boys rushing at once to watch the engineer. But May 
and Agnes were still thinking of the poor children in the streets. 
“ Oh, I wish we could take all the poor little boys and girls with 
us!*' said Agnes. 

“ Why, that would be fine! ” cried May. “ Could we not do 
that. Papa?” 

Mr. Webb was very pleased to see that the girls were still 
thinking of the poor children. “ No, dear, we could not take all 
the poor children In the city, for there are many more than our 
yacht will hold. But we could take a few of them, twenty-five or 
thirty, perhaps. That would leave very many thousands behind. 
Still, if you wish it, I shall arrange that you shall take as many as 
possible of the children of the tenements some day next week. 
I have many poor Socialist friends whose children would enjoy 
the trip. 

“ But, dear child, that is only charity. It only gives a little 
to a few, only one happy day to a few children. That is not 
enough, for we want all children to have all their days made happy. 
I want you to see that charity is not enough. It is good that 
those who have more than enough should give to those who have 
nothing, or very little, but we must try to make the world so 
good, and so just that no one will need charity. Your mamma 
will tell you how we think this can be done.” 

Mr. Webb walked away to the front of the boat and sat 
down in an easy-chalr. When the children saw that he had 
begun to read out of a big book, they knew that he wished to be 
quiet and free from their questions. So they gathered in the 
stern of the boat. The boys came and said they wanted some- 






A SAIL ON THE RIVER 


33 


thing to eat, so Mrs. Webb opened up the baskets and in a lew 
minutes they were all eating nuts and fruit, making quite a merry 
party. 

When they had finished eating, May begged her mother to 
tell them something more about Socialism, and all the others 
joined in the appeal. Whether the boys were simply anxious to 
be polite, or whether they were really more interested to learn 
about Socialism than in the engine of the yacht, I do not know. 
I only know that they asked Mrs. Webb to tell them about Social¬ 
ism, and that they were very quiet, giving close attention to every 
word. I do not wonder very much at this, for Mrs. Webb was 
very kind and gentle, and talked in the most charming manner. 

I am sorry to say that I cannot tell you all she said, in just 
her own beautiful words, but I can tell you the sense of it. She 
told them that the Socialists want to elect some clever and good 
man who believes in Socialism to be President of the United 
States, and other clever and good Socialists to make laws in the 
States and in Congress. 

The laws that they would make would change things so that 
there would be no need for people to work for low wages, to 
be poor, and to see their little children suffer. They would do 
away with poverty and make the world a bright and happy place 
to live in. Then there would be no dirty streets with poor, ugly 
homes, and no children ragged and hungry like the little children 
they had seen that morning. 

“ Little children are like beautiful flowers,” said Mrs. Webb. 

Flowers cannot grow and bloom in their full beauty unless 
they have loving care, good air and light, and good soil from 




34 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


which the little roots can draw their food. And little children 
must have loving care, good air and light, and plenty of food. If 
they do not get these things, they either die or grow less strong 
and lovely than they ought to grow. Under Socialism all little 
human blossoms will be cared for as tenderly and wisely as 
the wisest men and women in the world know how to care for 
them. 

‘‘We want to make the laws so that a few rich people will 
not have the power to take most of the good things. We have 
something like the kind of order we want in our homes now. 
When we have beautiful things in our homes, we do not let two 
or three of the biggest and strongest children take them away so 
that no other members of the family can enjoy them. If papa 
buys a fine picture, he does not allow Rob to take it and shut it 
up in his room and tell May that she cannot see it. Robert can 
have his own things, and May can have her own things, and 
these do not belong to anyone else. But the home itself and the 
beautiful things are for the good and joy of all. 

“ So when we sit down to the table for dinner. All the nice 
food is placed upon the table, and there is always quite enough 
for each one. It would not be nice if, when the food is placed 
upon the table, all began to fight for it, each one trying to get it all 
and to keep the others from getting any. That is the way dogs 
behave over a bone when they are very hungry, but it would not 
be right for human beings. No nice boy or girl would want to 
act like that. 

“ But that is the way we fight over the good things of the 
world, outside of our homes. There is enough of all things for 




A SAIL ON THE RIVER 35 


every man, woman, and child to have plenty, but a few strong 
and clever people strive to get most for themselves, so that the 
rest of the people cannot have enough. Socialism would give all 
a chance to have enough, just as when we sit down to dinner 
each can get enough to eat. There is enough in the world for 
everyone if we share it fairly as we do the food at home.” 

“Do you mean that the laws must be changed so that the 
wise men who govern us will take everything and give each one 
a share, just as papa serves out our dinner at table, and as our 
mama gives us our clothes?” asked May. 

“No, my dear. That would be dividing the wealth of the 
country up in shares, and I told you yesterday that we do not 
believe in that. What we want is that the people, through the 
government, shall own many things which now are owned by a 
few people. We want all the people together to own the things 
which cannot be owned by a few people without injury to all the 
rest. 

“Let us suppose that this noble river belonged to your 
father. He would have the right then to keep everyone else 
away from it. No one could use it without his consent. He 
could keep all other people from using it, or make them pay him 
for the right to take a swim in it, to sail a boat upon it, or to 
enjoy it in any other way. There are many beautiful places 
which are owned by rich men in that manner, and which no one 
else has a right to enjoy. 

“But your father does not own the river. It belongs to all 
the people, and the government sees that no one keeps other 
people from enjoying its use. Well, we Socialists want to have 






36 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


the land, the mines, the forests, the factories in which things are 
made, to be owned by the people in just the same way. 

“We don’t want the government to own everything. That 
would be quite foolish, even if it could be done. We do not 
believe that it could be done, and we do not want it. But where 
there are things which all ought to enjoy, or which all must 
share if they are to live happy lives, we want those things made 
the common property of all the citizens, and used for the equal 
benefit of all instead of for a few.” 

“1 know what Aunt Mary means,” said George. “She 
means that it is quite right for me to own my own bat and ball, 
because any other fellow can get a bat and ball for himself. But 
it is not right for me to own the field all to myself and to be able 
to stop other fellows from playing there, because it is not possible 
for every fellow to get a field.” 

“Well done, George!” cried Mr. Webb, who came up just 
when George was speaking. “Well done! That is the point. 
Your aunt must be a good teacher, for you understand the idea 
of Socialism very well. If you keep on like that, some day we 
shall have to get you to make a Socialist speech.” 

George was very proud, as of course any boy would be to 
be praised by such a wise man as Mr. Webb. Just then the 
yacht drew up to the dock, and all made a scramble for the 
automobile, which was there waiting for them. “ Honk,” “ honk,” 
“honk,” went the horn, and in a little while the children were at 
home again, tired, but very happy. 

At the door they were met by Miss Brooks and Mrs. 
Brown, the mother of Agnes and George and Willie. “Well, 






A SAIL ON THE RIVER 


37 


children, what have you learned about Socialism to-day,” asked 
Mrs. Brown. 

“It means that all little children should be happy and have 
enough to eat,” said Willie, which was not a bad answer for such 
a small boy to give. 

“ It means that all the people must have a share in the land, 
and the mines and the factories, and that they must not be 
owned by a few people,” said Rob. 

“ I think it means that every little baby born into the world 
should be given a fair chance,” said May. 

“ Oh, it means that there should be a law to keep some peo¬ 
ple from taking what all other people need, and to give each one 
a fair share,” said George. 

“I think it means all that Willie and Rob and George have 
said, and something else besides,” said Agnes. “It means also 
that we should all be brothers and sisters.” 

“Yes, dear children,” said Mr. Webb, who had been listen¬ 
ing. “Socialism means just that.” 

QUESTIONS 

What name do Socialists give each other? Why did Mr* 
Webh call his yacht **Freedom'*? What did Mr, Webb say 
about charity ? Why do Socialists want to elect a Socialist Presi^ 
dent ? Do they want to elect other Socialists ? Who ? What 
sort of laws do the Socialists want? Do we want to divide up 
the wealth? Do we want the government to own everything? 
What did George say about the field and the bat and ball? 




FOURTH READING 

THE SOCIALIST MEETING 


One evening, soon after the trip on the yacht of which I told 
you, Mr. Webb had to go to a Socialist meeting to make a 
speech. He made the children happy by telling them that if they 
would all promise to be very good, to sit as still as so many mice, 
and listen without going to sleep, they could go to the meeting. 

The children were excited and kept asking Miss Brooks 
what a Socialist meeting was like. But all the answer she would 
give them was, “Wait and see.” Of course, if she told them all 
about it that would have spoiled the evening for them, so 1 think 
she was very kind not to tell. 

It was eight o’clock when they came to the place where the 
meeting was to be held. They saw a great big hall which Rob 
said must be the very biggest hall in the whole world. Of course, 
we know better than that. It was not the biggest hall in the world, 
but Rob thought it must be, because it was so many times bigger 
than the assembly hall in his school. 

A seat had been kept for the children, their mothers, and 
Miss Brooks in the front of the gallery, where they could see all 
that went on and hear every word. The hall was filled with men 
and women, most of whom were using fans, for it was a very 
hot night. Upon the walls there hung many flags and banners, 
and these and the white dresses which most of the ladies wore 
made a pleasing picture in the bright light. 

Soon all the people began to clap their hands and to make a 


THE SOCIALIST MEETING 39 


noise with their feet. The children did the same, of course, 
because they thought it must be the proper thing to do. 

Then some men stood upon their seats and began to cheer 
and wave little red flags. At first the children did not know 
what to think of it, but when they looked toward the platform 
they saw Mr. Webb bowing to the people. Then they knew 
that the cheers were meant as a kind greeting to him. If you 
could have read the secrets of Rob’s mind just then, I believe 
that you would have said that he was the proudest boy in the 
world. 

A man with a big, loud voice came to the front of the plat¬ 
form and rapped on the table, making a noise like a carpenter at 
work. He was the chairman of the meeting. He asked all the 
people to sing a song called “ The Red Flag,” and it seemed as if 
every man and woman in the hall sang and waved a red flag at 
the same time. Miss Brooks sang very sweetly, and Agnes 
made up her mind that she would learn the words, too, if Miss 
Brooks would help her. 

When the song was finished there was more clapping and 
then the chairman made a little speech and told the people that 
the Socialists wanted everybody to be happy. Then he said that 
they would all be glad to hear “Comrade Webb” speak, and 
when he said this there was more cheering, louder and wilder 
than ever. 

Mr. Webb waited until the cheers had died away. Then he 
began his speech, and the people became so quiet that had a pin 
been dropped to the floor it could almost have been heard. Only 
now and then, when Mr. Webb said something which pleased 





40 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


them very much, they clapped their hands and cheered so that he 
had to stop and wait for them to be quiet. 

Mr. Webb was a very good speaker. His clear, ringing 
voice seemed to fill the place like the music from a great organ. 
He spoke very simply, using simple and easy words, so that even 
little Willie could understand it all. Miss Brooks wrote down in 
shorthand all that he said, so I am able to tell you some of it in 
his own words. I wish I could tell you with the charm of his 
voice, but I cannot. Listen, and I will tell you some of the things 
he said: 

“ Comrades and friends: I have been told that you want me 
to tell in very simple words what Socialism means; what we who 
call ourselves Socialists want, and by what means we hope to 
reach the end we have in view. I shall try to do this so that 
even the boys and girls will know what each word means. 

“ This land in which we live is very rich, as rich as any land 
in the world. Nature has been most kind to us. In our seas 
and our rivers there are many kinds of fish fit for food; our 
mines are stored with coal and iron, copper and silver and gold; 
our hills and plains feed all the cattle we need; our fields and 
our gardens grow all the food we want. I think we can say that 
in America there ought to be no one in want of food. 

“ But in all our towns and cities there are many men and 
women and boys and girls, even little babies, who do not get the 
food they need, and who live in want and pain. We all wish that 
this did not need to be said, but sad as we must be when we 
think of it, we know that it is true. 

“This ought not to be so. There is enough for all, and no 




THE SOCIALIST MEETING 41 


one should be so poor as not to have good food to eat, good 
clothes to wear, and a good home to live in. When we see that 
some have so many good things that they can never use more 
than a small part of them, we know that there must be some¬ 
thing wrong in the way we live and use the gifts of Nature. 

“All of us, if we are good and wise, must want to put an 
end to the wrong and to make life glad for all. That is why we 
have come to this meeting. I want to tell you why we have 
some very poor people and others very rich. And then I want 
to tell you what we Socialists think must be done so that all will 
be rich. 

“What do we mean when we say that all should be rich? 
Well, we mean that all should have enough of the good things of 
life to make them glad; enough food and clothes, and enough rest, 
to make their lives happy and bright. 

“You want to know if enough good things for all can be 
had. Well, let us think about it a bit. How are these good 
things to be had; how do we get them? If you think about it, 
you will see that they come from two sources. First, there is 
the part which Nature gives. Second, there is the part that 
comes from the labor of human beings. All wealth comes from 
human labor added to Nature’s gifts. 

“ Nature gives us the sea and the fish in the sea, but it takes 
the labor of human beings to catch the fish to make them useful 
as food. Nature hides the coal and the iron and the copper and 
silver and gold in the earth, but there must be human labor to dig 
them out and to make them fit for use. Nature gives us clay and 
stones and big trees in the forest, but it takes the labor of man to 






42 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


make bricks out of the clay, to shape the rough stones, to cut down 
the trees and make boards, and then to make houses out of the 
bricks and stones and boards. 



“So it is that all our wealth comes from the union of 
mans labor with the forces of Nature. I do not mean hand 
labor only when I say this, for the brain labor which some men 
do is quite as useful as the hand labor of other men. Now, if 
people whose labor makes wealth were always rich, and the 
people who never make wealth were always poor, that would 





THE SOCIALIST MEETING 


43 


not be so bad. But when we ask who are poor and who 
are rich to-day, we find that the poor are those who make wealth, 
and that those who do not make wealth are the rich. 

“ The next thing we have to ask is: ‘ Why is this so: why 
do the people who make the wealth let the idle people get most 
of it ? ’ It is not that the work-people want to be poor, for they 
do not. And it is not because the idle people are wiser or better 
than the people who work hard. 

“All the things which Nature gives, and which men must 
have to make wealth with, such as wood, coal, iron, stone, and 
many other things, belong to a few people. No one can build 
a home unless he has the land on which to build it. No one can 
dig coal unless he has the land from which to dig it. No one can 
grow food unless he has the land on which to grow it. All the 
people do not own land. Only a few of them do. And they 
make the many people who use their land pay them for that 
right. So the few do not need to work at all. They can get 
more by making those who do work pay them for the use of 
what Nature gave for all men. 

“ But land is not the only thing men must have to be able to 
make the things they need to live in comfort. There was once a 
time when all that man needed was the land and a few crude 
tools and weapons which he made himself. But that time is 
gone. To-day we must have great engines and very costly 
machines. We have to make use of steam and electric power; 
we must have factories and railroads. Now, these are owned by 
a few people, but the lives of all people depend upon them. 

“ The few who own these things permit the rest to use them 




44 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


only when they agree to pay for the right. When a man goes 
to work in a shop or in a mine he has to agree to work for 
wages. What do we mean by wages? Well, we mean that a 
man is given so much money for working so many hours or so 
many days. He does not get the thing he makes in the shop, or 
the coal he digs out of the mine. These belong to the people 
who employ him, the people who own the shop, or the mine, and 
the machinery. They pay him wages and keep the result of his 
labor, which is worth a great deal more. 

“You will see that people who own the land and other gifts 
of Nature, and people who own the factories and railroads and 
machinery can live and enjoy riches without doing any useful 
work, because they can make the people, who do not own such 
things, work for wages. 

“ How, then, can all the people hope ever to get rich, so that 
there will be no poor people ? I can tell you that in a few words. 
All the people, as citizens, must own the land and all other gifts 
of Nature, and not let them be owned by a few people. And all 
the people must own the factories, the railroads, and the great 
machines which are used to produce wealth. 

“We Socialists, then, are doing our best to make the people 
see that this is the only way to put an end to poverty and to 
make all rich and happy. When most of the people see this they 
will vote for laws which will take away the power from the few 
to make the many work for them. Then we shall all work. 
Some will work with their hands and some wise and gifted men 
will work with their brains. But all will do useful work, for the 
good of all, and no one will be able to live in idle ease on the 





THE SOCIALIST MEETING 45 


fruit of other men’s labor, because no one will own the things 
which other men must have before they can work. 

“And this is Socialism, my friends. That is what we must 
hope for and work for. We must get other people to hope and 
work for it as well as ourselves. Some day, perhaps long before 
the little boys and girls here to-night have grown old, we shall 
enter the Socialist life. Then our America will be a great and a 
happy land, and every child born in any part of the land will 
have a chance to live a glad, free life.” 

When Mr. Webb sat down there was much more cheering 
and clapping of hands. The people were very pleased and 
seemed to know the meaning of all that he had said to them. It 
was very good of Mr. Webb to make it so easy, for some of the 
people were very tired, and big words would have made it hard 
for them to understand. But I really think that Mr. Webb made 
his speech simple just for the sake of his children and their three 
little cousins. And they understood every word. 

When they were going home in the car after the meeting 
the children talked about the speech they had heard. They 
talked so loud that anyone could hear what they were saying. 

“ When I get to be a man I shall vote for a Socialist to be 
President,” said Willie. “Then we shall do away with poverty.” 

“I wish women voted,” said May. “Then I could vote for 
Socialist laws when I get big. 1 think women ought to vote just 
as well as men.” 

“ They will when we get Socialism,” said George, “ for 
Uncle said that Socialism would give equal rights to all men and 
women. I am sure he must have meant that they would have the 






46 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


same right to vote. When I grow to be a man, I shall vote for 
Socialism and make speeches about it, like Uncle does.” 

think,” said Agnes, “that I should like to be a clever 
woman and then to teach little boys and girls about Socialism. 
Then they would grow up to be good Socialists and would vote 
for Socialist laws. I think it is very wrong that the land and 
the factories and the other things we all need should be owned 
by a few people. Each ought to own only what he uses, and the 
things we all use ought to be owned by all the people.” 

“ I think that is a very nice speech, Agnes,” said her mother, 
who had been listening. “And now, Rob, what do you say about 
it?” 

“ Well, Auntie,” said Rob, “ I want to grow up a wise and 
good man like papa. Of course I shall vote for Socialist laws, 
too, but I should like to do much more than that, oh, ever so 
much more! I want to be the President of the United States, a 
real Socialist President. I would be like President Lincoln. He 
said the nation could not endure if half the people were free and 
half slaves. And then he set the slaves free. And I would 
say that we must not have half the people rich and half poor, and 
then I would make Congress pass laws to do away with poverty, 
so that all would be rich.” 

Rob’s father and mother were greatly amused and pleased 
by his answer. “ What castles you do build in the air, Rob,” 
said Mrs. Webb with a kind smile. 

Just then the car reached their corner and they all got oflF, 
and were soon at home. The children went off to bed at once, 
and I think that Rob dreamed of being President of the United 




THE SOCIALIST MEETING 47 


States, while Agnes dreamed of teaching little boys and girls 
about Socialism. 

And now that you have heard about the Socialist meeting, 
and I have told you a lot of what Mr. Webb said, and what the 
children thought about it, 1 wonder what you think about Social¬ 
ism, and what you want to do when you grow up? 

QUESTIONS. 

What son^ did the people sing ? What did Mr. Webb say 
about Nature being kind to us ? Ought there to be any poor people ? 
What do Socialists mean when they say that all should be rich ? 
What are the two sources from which wealth comes ? Do Social¬ 
ists mean that brain labor does not help to make wealth ? What 
must we have before we can grow food or do anything ? Do all 
the people own land? Do all the people own factories, mines, 
and machinery ? When the people who work get wages, do they 
get more than they produce, or less? Under Socialism will 
women have the same rights as men ? 






FIFTH READING 


THE RED FLAG 

wanted to learn the words of “The 
Flag,” the song which all the people 
at the Socialist meeting. She asked 
Brooks to teach her the words. She 
the tune already. 

Of course, Miss Brooks was very glad 
ich Agnes the words of the song, for 
she was always very kind to the children. 
Then, too, she knew that Agnes could sing nicely, and she 
wished her to sing Socialist songs sometimes. 

“ Come to my room this afternoon for an hour, dear Agnes,” 
she said. “ Then you can learn the words and we can sing them. 
I can play the air upon the piano.” 

Agnes was very happy. To learn the words of the song 
would be a great joy to her. But to visit the room which Miss 
Brooks called her “den” would be even better. She had been 
there once when Miss Brooks gave the children a little party, 
and she thought it the nicest room she had ever seen. 

“Thank you, dear Miss Brooks,” she said, and gave her a 
pretty kiss. 







THE RED FLAG 


49 


That afternoon, wearing a sweet and simple pink dress, 
Agnes sat in the cozy little room oi her kind friend. If you had 
been able to pay them a visit just then, you would have seen 
Miss Brooks seated in a great big armchair, reading. You 
would also have seen a very pretty little girl lying upon a rug, 
made from the skin of a big tiger, with her head resting upon 
the head of the tiger. Some little boys and girls would have 
been afraid of the fierce looking tiger’s head, for it looked just as 
if the animal were alive and could eat one. But it was only the 
skin of a tiger and its skull. A clever man had made it look as 
if it were alive, and put glass eyes in it. 

Agnes would read each verse of the song several times, 
and then she would close the book and say the words of the 
verse aloud to Miss Brooks. She learned all the verses in a 
very short time, much more quickly than most little girls would 
have learned them, I am sure. Agnes had a good memory and 
she could learn poetry very easily. I suppose that her great 
interest in the song helped her to learn it. It is never hard to 
learn things we are anxious to learn. 

When she had learned all the words so that she could recite 
them without looking into the book. Miss Brooks played the tune 
upon the piano. Then they sang the song three or four times, 
until they were quite tired. I am sure you would have clapped 
your hands with delight if you had heard them. 

Would you like to learn the words of the song, just as 
Agnes did? I have copied them for you, and hope that you will 
learn to sing them. 




50 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


THE RED FLAG 

The People’s Flag is deepest red. 

It shrouded oft our martyr’d dead, 

And ere their limbs grew stifF and cold 
Their hearts’ blood dyed its every fold. 

CHORUS: 

Then raise the scarlet standard high; 
Within its shade we’ll live or die. 

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer, 
We’ll keep the Red Flag flying here. 

Look ’round, the Frenchman loves its blaze; 
The sturdy German chants its praise; 

In Moscow’s vaults its hymns are sung, 
Chicago swells the surging throng. 

It waved above our infant might 
When all ahead seemed dark as night; 

It witnessed many a deed and vow— 

We must not change its color now. 

It well recalls the triumphs past. 

It gives the hope of peace at last; 

The banner bright, the symbol plain 
Of human right and human gain. 

With heads uncovered swear we all 
To bear it onward till we fall; 

Come dungeon dark or gallows grim, 

This song shall be our parting hymn. 




































































































































52 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


When they ceased singing, Miss Brooks asked Agnes if she 
would like to know about the song, and why the Socialists have 
red flags at their meetings sometimes. Agnes said she would 
like that better than anything, better than the best story Miss 
Brooks could tell. 

“ The song was written by one of our Irish comrades, a man 
named James Connell,*’ said Miss Brooks. “He wrote many 
other songs for us, but none of them ever became so popular as 
‘The Red Flag.* In England and Ireland our Socialist comrades 
sing it much more than we do in America.** 

“ What does the verse mean which says that the red flag 
‘shrouded oft our martyr’d dead*?** asked Agnes. “Have peo¬ 
ple been put to death for being Socialists?** 

“Oh yes,” answered Miss Brooks. “In some countries, 
where there is not so much freedom as we have, many Socialists 
have been put to death. And in many countries our comrades 
have been sent to prison for teaching the people what Socialism 
means. But the cause of Socialism still keeps growing.” 

“How cruel the laws must be to punish people for being 
Socialists, to send them to prison for trying to make the world 
better! ** cried Agnes. 

“Yes, dear, such laws are very cruel and unjust,” said Miss 
Brooks. “ They are also very foolish, for they cannot stop Social¬ 
ism. Men and women can be put in prisons, they can be beaten, 
or even put to death; but these things will not stop the spread of 
their ideas. For ideas cannot be put in prison, nor beaten, nor put 
to death by force. The only way to kill an idea is to prove that it is 
not a good idea, and to give the people some other idea in its place.” 






THE RED FLAG 


53 


“And have they ever tried to do that?’’ asked Agnes. 

“Yes, indeed, they have tried that a great many times, 
Agnes,’’ Miss Brooks replied. “Very clever men have written 
books to try to show that Socialism is not just or wise, and 
there are many men all the time making speeches against Social¬ 
ism, trying to make people believe that it is wicked, or foolish, or 
that it can never be brought about. But they do not convince the 
people. More people become Socialists each day.’’ 

“Of course they do not succeed because they are wrong,” 
said Agnes. “Socialism is true and no one can stop the truth. 
Mamma always says that.” 

“Yes, Agnes, that is so,” Miss Brooks said. “All their 
wise men have never been able to answer the books and speeches 
of our comrades. Your uncle wrote a book on Socialism years 
ago which has made many people join our movement, and none 
of the enemies of Socialism has ever been able to answer it. 
That is why all the comrades love your uncle so much.” 

“But why is the Socialist flag red. Miss Brooks? Would 
not some other color be better than red? I do not think red is 
a nice color, and then it makes one think of the red flags men 
carry on the railroads as danger signals. I think a white flag 
would be much nicer.” 

“But a white flag would have no meaning for us, my dear, 
while a red flag has,” replied Miss Brooks. “You know that 
Socialism is for all people of all races. We do not want the 
white man to fight the black man, or the yellow man, but that all 
should be brothers. We want to do away with war and to have 
all the people in the world live in peace as brothers and sisters. 




54 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


“ Now, red is the color of the blood of all people. Rich and 
poor, black and white, wise and simple, we have all the same 
sort of blood, the same color. So we have chosen red as the 
color of our flag to represent the idea that all the nations are of 
one blood; that Socialism stands for all mankind alike.” 

“Why, that is very noble and beautiful,” said Agnes. “I 
am sure that if people only knew that, they would honor and 
respect the Socialist flag, and not hate and despise it.” 

“Well, dear Agnes, there is only one thing we can do,” 
said Miss Brooks. “We can tell people what our red flag really 
means. We can do our best to make them understand that 
Socialism stands for the good of all mankind. 

“ But there are other reasons why our flag is red. Long, 
long ago, much longer than our histories tell us about, the people 
who lived then made flags to signal to each other. Wise men 
who have made a study of the subject think that the first flags 
must have been red, that men made them red to look as much 
like fire as they could make them. One of the reasons why they 
think that is that the word ‘flag* in our English language is the 
same as a Latin word which means ‘flame.* So red is the color 
which was first used for flags. 

“That is not why we Socialists have red flags. I thought 
only that you would like to know what wise men say about the 
red flag, and why the first flags men used were red. But I want 
you to know that for thousands of years red has been the color 
of the banners of poor people who were fighting against tyrants. 
In the old Roman days the rich and powerful people always bore 
white flags, while the poor working people always bore red flags. 











•j-v •*<*> •>'*«_J-«.kW.lr^ 




liP 

H»« 








9T. 


r^ 


'IT GIVES THE HOPE OF PEACE AT LAST” 













































56 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Perhaps it does not really matter at all, but I like to think that 
we who are Socialists are bearing the same banner which all the 
people fighting tor freedom have borne for thousands of years,” 

“Yes, it is nice to think that the Socialist banner not only 
means peace among all nations, but that it is just like the red 
flags which people trying to make themselves free have always 
used. And do the Socialist comrades in other countries use the 
red flag also. Miss Brooks?” 

“Yes, dear. Do you not remember the second verse of the 
song?” asked Miss Brooks. “You know it says: 

‘ Look round, the Frenchman loves its blaze; 

The sturdy German chants its praise; 

In Moscow’s vaults its hymns are sung, 

Chicago swells the surging throng.’ 

“You see, the poet could not put all the names of all countries 
in the song, but he names Frenchmen and Germans, Russians 
and Americans—only to make his verse sound just right he had 
to use ‘ Moscow’ and ‘Chicago’ in place of ‘ Russia’ and ‘America.’ 
In every country where there are Socialists the red flag is loved. 
And yet, Agnes, I do not want you to think that the red flag is 
anything more than a sign of what we believe, for it is not. It is 
really used to inspire people.” 

“I think I know what you mean,” said Agnes. “In England 
the national flag is called the ‘Union Jack,’ and the beautiful 
American flag with its stars and stripes is called ‘ Old Glory.’ 
The people of each land love their flag and show respect to it. 





THE RED FLAG 


57 


not just for its color, but because it represents the country. So 
we must love the red flag of Socialism, not for its color, but 
because it represents our ideas and our belief in Socialism.” 

“That is quite right, Agnes,” said Miss Brooks, and anyone 
could tell by her voice that she was pleased by what Agnes had 
said. “ It does not matter very much if we have a flag or not, so 
long as we are true to our Socialist belief. 

“Some people think that we cannot love our own country 
and its flag if we love the red flag of Socialism. That is why 
they are so often angry when they see us with red flags at our 
meetings, I think. They believe that we want to put our red flag 
in place of the flag of our country, ‘ Old Glory.’ But that is a 
big mistake. When we carry our red flag in parades, or at 
meetings, we carry the flag of the country as well. One flag 
shows our love for our own land, the other shows that we want 
the people of all lands to love each other, so that there need 
never be any more war.” 

While they had been talking about the red flag, and singing 
about it, the clock in the corner had been working away, ticking 
just as fast as it could tick. Then it began to strike—One, two, 
three, four, five, six, it struck, and Miss Brooks and Agnes knew 
that they must hurry off to dinner. 

I fancy they must have been late for dinner, too, for I 
heard the dinner-bell ring just as they left the room, and I know 
they were not ready then. But you may be sure they were 
forgiven, for Mr. and Mrs. Webb knew that they had been talk¬ 
ing about Socialism. 




58 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


QUESTIONS 

What son^ do Socialists love to sing ? Who wrote the song ? 
Why is it foolish to punish people for their ideas? Why do 
Socialists have a red flag instead of a white one ? What color 
flags did the rich and powerful people in Rome carry ? What 
color flags did the poor working people carry ? Do Socialists all 
over the world love and respect the red flag ? If we love and 
respect the red flag, does that prevent us from loving our native 
land? 






SIXTH READING 

A LITTLE TALK ON EVOLUTION 

Rob was reading a book about Socialism which his father 
had given him, when he came upon a new word. What the word 
meant he had not the least idea. Several times he spelled it out, 
letter by letter — E-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n, but that did not help him a bit. 

None of the other children could tell him what the word 
meant. They were all younger than Rob—except Agnes, who 
was just the same age. Rob and Agnes tried very hard to 
understand it, and after a long time Agnes said that she thought 
it must be a word which no one used but Socialists. 

But Rob was not content with that. “ There is a book in 
papa's study which tells what every word means,” said he, “ but 
we cannot go in there to look at it, for papa is very busy. What 
shall we do?” 

“ Oh, I know what to do,” said Agnes. ” Let us go and ask 
your mamma. She will tell us, for she knows almost everything, 
I think.” 

Just at that very moment, in the nick of time, Mrs. Webb 
passed the door of the room. In the fairy stories the good fairy 
always comes at the right moment, so that we can play that Mrs. 
Webb was a fairy, if you like. Anyhow, she came out of the 






60 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


study and began to go upstairs, but she stopped when Rob and 
Agnes called to her. 

And she spoke just like the fairy in the story always does: 
“Well, children, what can I do for you,” she asked. 

“ Rob has found a very hard word in the book uncle gave 
him,” said Agnes. “We want to find out what it means.” 

“What is the word, Rob?” asked his mother. 

“It is spelled E-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n, and I think the way to pro¬ 
nounce it must be ev-o-loo-shun, or something like that. But I 
want to know what it means,” said Rob. 

“You pronounce it very well indeed, Rob,” said Mrs. Webb, 
“and all you need me to tell you is what it means. The word 
means growth from one state to another. If you put a seed 
into the ground after a little while the seed bursts. Then a little 
bit of green shoots its head above the earth, a little plant. The 
little plant grows and grows, and by-and-by buds come. And 
then, in a short time the buds unfold and blossoms come. That 
is a very simple form of evolution. But will you not read me 
the whole passage in which you found the word, Rob?” 

“Yes, mamma. This is the passage,” said Rob. He read: 
“Evolution is the law of all life, and the Socialist knows that he 
can trust that law to bring the change.” 

“ Oh, that is too hard for you to understand without help, I 
am afraid, Rob,” said his mother with a pleasant smile. “ But if 
you will wait just a few minutes I think that I can spare the time 
to explain it to you. I have two or three little things to do first. 
If you will wait in your room until then, I will gladly come and 
help you.” 






A LITTLE TALK ON EVOLUTION 61 


The two children thanked her and went back to their room 
to wait. They did not have to wait long. In a little while Mrs. 
Webb came, bringing with her a big stone, which caused the two 
children to stare with wonder. 

“ Your book says that ‘evolution is the law of all life,’ Rob. 
That is the first part of the passage you read to me, and I want 
to explain that first,” she said. “I have told you already that 
evolution means growth from one stage to another, as when a 
seed develops into a plant, and a bud unfolds and becomes a 
flower. 

“The passage in your book means that all life has to grow 
and develop from one form, or stage, to another. Everything 
grows. An acorn grows and becomes an oak tree—that is evo¬ 
lution. Out of a tiny egg comes a wee bird, without any feathers 
and quite unable to see. It grows bigger and stronger, feathers 
come and at last the bird flies—and that is evolution. Babies 
grow in just the same manner and become men and women— 
that also is evolution.” 

“I think I know now what it means,” said Rob. “A frog 
lays its egg in the pond and when these are hatched little tadpoles 
come out. Then, after a time, the tadpoles change into frogs. 
I have seen them many times. I suppose you would call the 
change from the egg to the tadpole, and from the tadpole to the 
frog, the evolution of the frog, mamma?” 

“Yes, that is a very good way to put it, Rob. You are 
quite right. Now, very wise men have found out that not only 
do seeds develop into plants and flowers, eggs into tadpoles and 
tadpoles into frogs, but that one kind of animal develops from 





62 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


other kinds which are not at all like it, so far as we can see by 
simply looking at them. 

“All the many kinds of pigeons we saw the other day in the 
pigeon show have come, these wise men say, from one common 
kind of pigeon; all the many breeds of dogs have come from the 
wolf. Even human beings must have been produced by evolution. 
The wise men say that millions of years ago there were only a 
few kinds of life in all the world. Then more forms came from 
these until, after long ages, monkeys were born from parents 
’which were not quite monkeys. Then from the monkeys came 
apes which looked very much like men, but were not quite men. 
Human beings came later. They were the offspring of the apes 
which were not quite men. 

“This is a very hard thing for boys and girls to understand, 
and you must trust the wise and learned men until you are much 
older. It is quite enough for you to know that it took thousands 
upon thousands of years of evolution to produce a human being. 
I can only explain to you now that the wise men know these 
things because they find in the rocks, and buried deep in the 
earth, the remains of many different kinds of animals — some of 
which do not exist any more — so that they can see step by step 
the process of evolution. 

“ For you must know that stones grow just like other things. 
Perhaps you think it funny to say that stones grow, but I have 
brought one to show you that it is so. This is one of your papa’s 
fossils. Do you know what a fossil is ? ” 

“ Oh, yes. A fossil is any sort of animal, insect or plant life 





HUMAN BEINGS CAME LATER. THEY WERE THE OFFSPRING OF THE APES WHICH 

WERE NOT QUITE MEN 














64 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


that has been turned to stone. Most fossils are found in stone 
of the same kind as they are,” Rob answered. 

“Yes, that is very good,” said Mrs. Webb. “Here is a 
fossil shell in a piece of limestone. You can see all the form of 
the shell, but it is really solid stone now, like the rest of the stone 
in which it is held. Now, how did that shell ever get into the 
heart of the rock like that? Of course, no one could put the 
shell into the rock. It must have grown there. 

“Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, this limestone was 
not yet formed. There was a mass of mud at the bottom of a 
great lake, or perhaps of the sea. This mud was the floor of 
the lake or the sea, its bottom. When shellfish and water-in- 
sects died, their bodies or shells would drop to the bottom in the 
mud. Even big fishes and water snakes would die sometimes 
and their bodies fall into the mud. Of course, very often the 
bodies were eaten by creatures living at the bottom in the mud. 
But many were not eaten. They soon got covered with other 
mud, and in the mud they were kept in just the shape they were 
when alive. 

“ Then, in the course of a long, long time, the water left that 
place so that the mud which was the floor of the sea or the lake 
became land, and some of it got to be very hard. That is how 
great rocks were formed and how it comes to pass that you find 
fossils of fishes and shells and insects in them. 

“Well, fossils are found in other kinds of stone as well as 
limestone. They are found also in coal. In the soft coal which 
is found in many places you can often find the forms of insect 
life, leaves of trees, and very beautiful ferns. I have found many 





A LITTLE TALK ON EVOLUTION 


65 


kinds of such fossils. Thus we know that stones grow and that 
coal grows. They are the results oi evolution. 

“ But that is not all that the wise men have been able to find 
out. By the many different kinds oJ leaves found in the coal they 
have been able to fell us that millions of years ago there were 
great forests where the coal mines now are; that in these forests 
grew trees which do not grow any more, and that the climate 
must have been very different from what it is now to make such 
trees grow. And by all the different kinds of animals they have 
found in many parts of the world, and the footprints of animals, 
they have been able to tell us that there were very many kinds 
of animals on the earth thousands of years before there were any 
human beings. 

“They have been able to show by the fossil remains of 
animals how man came to exist. First they find the remains of 
an animal only a little like a man; then, in some other place, they 
find fossils of animals much more like men, but still not men. 
Then, after a while, they find some fossils of animals which look 
so much like some kinds of human beings still found in the world 
that the wise men can hardly tell whether they should be called 
the remains of men who looked like apes, or of apes that looked 
like men. 

“All this is very wonderful, as I am sure you will agree. It 
is also very strange and hard to understand. Even the very 
wisest men in all the world cannot explain everything, but they are 
always learning more about it. Of course, little boys and girls 
cannot hope to understand what the wisest men in the world can¬ 
not. But you can see that everything in the world has to grow; 




66 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


that it is the result of evolution. When you are older you will be 
able to study and understand some of the things which cannot be 
explained to you now. Till then, dear children, you must trust 
the wise men.” 

‘T am sure it is all very wonderful — more wonderful than 
any fairy story,” said Agnes. “When 1 grow to be a woman I 
want to study and find out all about it.” 

“And I,” said Rob, “ want to become one of the very wisest 
men in the world, so that I can explain all about evolution to other 
people.” 

“Yes, that will be very fine, Rob,” agreed his mother. 
“Now I must tell you about the second part of the passage in 
your book which you could not understand. It says, you remem¬ 
ber, that the Socialist knows that he can trust the law of evolution 
to bring the change. What ‘change" do you think is meant?"" 

“Oh, that is very easy,"" said Rob quickly. “It means the 
change to Socialism from the kind of life we have now. The 
book says that on another page."" 

“I am very glad you did not forget that, Rob,"" his mother 
said then. “ So what the writer of the book meant was that the 
Socialist knows that evolution will bring the change to Socialism; 
that we shall grow to it. If you see a tadpole in the water you 
say that it will change and become a frog, that evolution will change 
it. And the wise men have found out that the ways in which 
people live in the world — their laws, their customs, their govern¬ 
ments—change in just the same way. So they say that the man¬ 
ner in which we live is the result of evolution. 

“The means by which the wise men are able to find out the 




A LITTLE TALK ON EVOLUTION 67 


many changes that have taken place in the life of the human 
race are very much like those by which they tell just how human 
life came to exist, and how the different animals and plants came 
to exist. And they call this the study of social evolution—that 
is the growth of society. 

“Of course, they cannot tell by fossils. There are no fos¬ 
sils of laws and customs kept for us in stones. But they can tell 
by means of other things, some of which they find buried deep in 
the earth. Others they find in the drawings and carvings made 
on rocks hundreds of years ago, or in the legends and folk-tales 
which have come down to us from the ages before men had 
learned how to write. 

“Not long ago, in a village not far from New York City, 
some men were digging a deep trench, when they came upon the 
skull of a human being with some other human bones. The 
strange thing about the skull and the other bones was that they 
were not really bone at all. Once they had been real bones, but 
now they were all turned to stone, just like the shells in the lime¬ 
stone. 

“ The men who dug them up could not understand how these 
things which looked like the remains of a human being should be 
made of stone. But when wise men came and saw them, they 
were able to explain at once that thousands of years ago an 
Indian had died there and that his bones had been turned into 
solid stone. They knew it was an Indian by the shape of the 
skull. 

“Now, when such human remains are found with the re¬ 
mains of tools and weapons it is very easy for wise men to tell 





68 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


just what kind of a life the men who used the tools must have lived. 
If they find a lot of human remains buried in caves, and with them 
stone axes and stone arrows, then they know that the people 
must have lived in caves before the use of iron had been found 
out. So, if they find such remains with iron tools and the ruins 
of brick and adobe houses they know that the people must have 
been of a later stage of social growth, when the use of iron had 
been found out and houses were built. 

“So it is with pictures on the rocks. If they find rude 
carvings in which there are figures showing men at work, or 
hunting, the wise men say that the figures show us what kind of 
life the people who made the carvings lived. And if in the folk¬ 
tales and legends, which have come down to us from many thou¬ 
sands of years ago, there are stories of how people lived then, the 
wise men can tell just what life was like in the days those tales 
tell about. 

“ By such means as these we know about the changes which 
took place before the art of writing was known, and before men 
could write their history. Of the changes which have taken place 
since men learned to write down their history in books we know 
from the books themselves. 

“We know, as a result of the study wise men have made of 
the subject, that the human race has passed through many stages 
of evolution. There was a time in the very beginning of human 
life when people lived just like the animals. They rested in trees 
and in holes in the rocks. They had no property of any kind. 

“Then there came a time when some of them learned to 
make fire and to use it to cook food and to keep away wild 





A LITTLE TALK. ON EVOLUTION 69 


animals, as well as to keep themselves warm. That was a big 
jump. Then, after a long time—it may have been many hundreds 
of years—they made tools and weapons, and some of the most 
wise and strong people went out to fight and made slaves of the 
people, who were less wise and less strong. Then they made the 
slaves work hard for them. 

“At another stage, some of the masters became kings and 
queens and made laws for all the rest. The people did not have 
any voice in making the laws then. The human race had not 
come to that stage in its evolution. 

“ I cannot stay to tell you all the stages of social evolution 
which the wise men have told us about. It will soon be time for 
dinner and I must make haste to tell you about the stage that we 
live in. We call the present stage of the growth of society 
‘Capitalism.’ It began about three hundred years ago, when 
men invented very wonderful steam engines and machines. In 
this stage people are not made slaves in war and then forced to 
work. The people have everything to say about the making of 
the laws, so that they can change the government when they 
desire. 

“Now Socialists believe that there will be another great 
change before very long, a change from Capitalism to Socialism. 
That is what the writer of your book meant, Rob, by the sen¬ 
tence which says that Socialists depend upon the law of evolution 
to make the change to Socialism.” 

Mrs. Webb looked at her watch and found that it was time 
for her to hurry away. So she said good-bye to the children and 
left them to talk about the wonders of evolution. 





70 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


“ I think I understand it,” said Agnes. “ Men get wiser and 
find out better ways of living, and so they make a change. After 
a long, long time, other men find still better ways of living and 
there is a change again. The Socialists are the people who have 
found out the way to make the next change.” 

“Yes, Agnes, it must be something like that,” said Rob. 
“ Only I think the change comes from better tools, better ways of 
making things and getting food. The changes come when men 
have made better tools or better machines. Socialism could only 
come after Capitalism, after men had made steam engines and 
machines. First there came stone tools, then iron ones; then 
came better tools of steel, and then steam engines and electric 
machines. It is just like the egg changing to a tadpole and the 
tadpole to a frog.” 

















A LITTLE TALK ON EVOLUTION 71 


QUESTIONS 

What does evolution mean ? What is the evolution of a 
flower? How did Rob use the tadpole to explain evolution? 
How do we know that stones grow? What is a fossil? Do we 
find fossils in coal ? How can wise men tell that there were an¬ 
imals on earth before man came ? Did human beings come from 
some other kind of animals? How can wise men tell that? 
What is social evolution ? How can the wise men tell what 
sort of life people lived long ago ? What do we call this stage of 
social growth ? What will the next be ? 






SEVENTH READING 

OLD PETER TELLS A STORY 

One ot the best friends Mr. Webb had was an old man 
whose name was Peter. He used to mend shoes to earn a living. 
He was a Socialist, too, and it was his duty to visit all the mem¬ 
bers of the Socialist Party to collect the money which they gave 
every month to pay for books and papers to give to people who 
were not Socialists. As old Peter mended all the shoes for Mr. 
Webb and his family, he came to the house very often. 

Mr. Webb was always glad to see the old cobbler. No 
matter how busy he might be, he was never too busy to have a 
little chat with “Comrade Peter,” as he always called him. 

Peter was not a very nice old man to look at. His clothes 
were very poor and shabby, and the work he did made his hands 
look very dirty. Of course Peter could not help this, but all the 
same it was not nice to look at. But worse than the shabby 
clothes and the dirty hands was the fact that when he was a 
young man he had lost his left eye, and he wore a big black 
shield over the place where the eye used to be. This made him 
look quite terrible. 

That is all I shall tell you about Peter which is not nice. 
In spite ol these things, he was really a dear old man. When he 
smiled, as he very often did, people would forget all about his 
poor clothes, his dirty hands and the black patch, and they would 
think only what a nice old man he must be. 

Little children were never afraid of Old Peter, but were 













74 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


always glad to see him. When he walked through the city 
with shoes he had mended, all the boys and girls in the streets 
would speak kindly to him, and the tiny little children would run 
to take his hand. I have seen Old Peter going through the 
streets with shoes hung over each shoulder, and children holding 
both his hands and catching on to his coat behind. 

One reason why the children loved him was that he would 
tell them nice stories. He could tell more stories than any one 
could count, I believe. In fact, he used to make up new stories 
for the children, for there were never so many stories for children 
printed as he could tell. Another reason why they loved him 
was the fact that he always had candy for the little ones in some 
of his pockets. 

So you see that Old Peter was much nicer than he seemed 
to be when you looked only at his shabby clothes, his soiled hands 
and the funny black patch. And when I see a man or woman 
on the street who does not look nice, I always think of Old Peter 
the cobbler, the friend of the children. 

Of course Rob and May knew Old Peter very well. They 
used to run to the door when he came and ask him to tell some 
new stories, and May never failed to give him a good, loving kiss. 
Rob, being a boy, did not kiss him, but you may be sure that he 
loved him just as much as May did. 

Well, soon after the three cousins of Rob and May came 
from England, Peter paid a visit to Mr. Webb and stayed to 
lunch. So he met Agnes, George and Willie, who loved him at 
once for his kind words to them. They laughed till their sides 
ached when he told Mr. Webb a very funny story, and Peter was 






OLD PETER TELLS A STORY 75 


so pleased that he promised to tell them a new story, all to them¬ 
selves, after lunch. 

So when lunch was over they all went into the playroom 
to hear Peter’s story. Rob, just to make believe that it was a 
very great secret, took care to lock the door, so that no one else 
could hear the story. Then Old Peter told this story, only he 
told it much better than I can hope to do: 

Once upon a time, a beautiful ship set sail from the Port of 
Hope, bound for a far-off coast, the Land of Heart’s Desire. It 
is useless for you to look for this land upon any map, or for the 
Port of Hope, from which the ship sailed. Somehow, I do not 
know why, these places have not yet been marked upon any 
maps, although they are very important places. 

There were more than two hundred and fifty people upon 
the ship when she set sail, and they were all very happy. The ship 
was decked with flags, and as she left the harbor bands played, 
and the watching crowds cheered. Never had any ship sailed 
from the Port of Hope in finer weather, or with more happiness 
among those on board. The name of the ship was Humanity. 

The good ship sailed on for many days and all went well. 
Then, one night, while all except the crew were asleep, a big 
storm came up. Out of black, angry skies came fierce flashes 
of lightning and heavy peals of thunder. The wind rose to a 
great tempest, and the waves dashed up as high as the top masts 
of the ship. It really seemed as if upon the sea, which before 
had looked like a great plain of waters, mighty mountains had 
been raised. The captain and all the members of the crew said 
that they had never seen such a storm before. 






76 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Well, they all knew that no ship could stand a storm like 
that. Most of the rigging had been swept away in the first wild 
blast, and as the storm kept on hour after hour, getting worse 
each minute, all the people made up their minds that the ship 
would be lost. They got the small boats ready so that they could 
at least try to save themselves. ‘‘ Perhaps we shall drift to the 
shore,’^ they said. 

All at once the brave captain gave the order to “Man the 
Boats!” The ship was sinking then. Of course the people lost 
no time in getting out the boats, for each one wanted to be saved. 
Now, perhaps you know that when a ship is sinking the first to be 
put in the boats are the women and children, with just men enough 
to row them ashore. After the women and children come the 
men passengers, and after them the crew of the ship. The cap¬ 
tain stays till the very last. That is the law of the sea. 

But I am sorry to say that in this case the first boat was 
taken by men, who pushed women and children aside, and even 
trampled some of them to the ground. They filled the boat and 
rowed away. Of course, the only excuse that any person could 
make for them would be that they were terror-stricken and did 
not know what they were doing. 

Well, all the people got off the ship in the boats except the 
captain and crew. I am sorry to say that these never were able 
to leave the ship, for some of the boats had been swept away 
and there were not boats enough left. 

But while all the people except the crew got into the boats, 
not all of them reached shore. How many were lost was never 
known. Some may have drifted to other places than that reached 




OLD PETER TELLS A STORY 


77 


by those about whose life afterward I am to tell you, but they 
were never heard of. 

The only people saved of whom anyone ever heard were 
just a hundred men and women. These were in three boats and 
were cast upon the shores of an island, where they lived for 
years. There were no people on the island when these men and 
women from the sunken ship reached it, and no one knew its 
name, if it ever had one. So they agreed to call it “ Capitalia,” 
though why they should choose such an ugly name I cannot tell. 

Now, I quite forgot to tell you that when the boats were 
cast against the shore of the island, there were twelve men who 
pushed and fought to get ashore before all the rest. I have 
always thought that they must have been some of the men who 
fought to get into the boats first from the sinking ship and tram¬ 
pled women and children down. Of course, I do not know that 
they were, but I think they must have been. 

One strong man got off and ran ahead of all the others. 
“ See! This is my island. I got to it first! ’’ he cried aloud. The 
other eleven men picked up the food and water which were in the 
boats and ran ahead of the first man. And as they ran they 
came to an old hut, so that they knew some human beings had 
lived on the island. They rushed into the hut and found some 
very old and rusty tools, but there was no sign of any human 
being. They thought that some people might have been ship¬ 
wrecked, like themselves, and lived on the island until a passing 
ship took them off. So they had gone and left the hut and the 
tools, being very glad to get away. 

“ Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! we found the hut and the tools, 





78 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


so they belong to us! ” cried the eleven men. The first man, the 
one who said the island was his just because he got to it first, 
came up just then, and they told him that if the island was his 
because he got to it first, the hut and tools must belong to them 
because they found them first. “ But if the island is mine,” said 
the first man, “I will not permit you to live on it, or to keep 
your hut on it, unless you will do what I say.” 

You see, he wanted to make them work for him, to pay him 
rent for the use of the land to live upon. They were all very 
angry then and shook their fists at him as if they would beat him. 
They were ready to fight, when one of the men who had found 
the hut and the tools said: “Why should we fight? There is 
more than enough for all of us if we can keep it and make the 
other people from the boats work for us. 

“I propose that we agree to pay our friend, who got the 
island first, rent for the use of his land. Then he can make the 
others pay rent, too, while we can also make them pay us for the 
use of the hut and the tools, as well as for the food and water 
we brought from the boats. These things are our capital, just as 
much as the land is our friend’s by right. Let us agree that 
every man and woman of those left shall pay rent to our friend 
for the land, and interest to us for the use of our capital. We 
need do no hard work at all, for we can make them do all the 
hard work. Our only work will be to watch them and to direct 
and guide them so that they may work as much as possible.” 

When this clever fellow finished, all the others cheered and 
clapped their hands. And when the rest of the people got to the 
hut they were told that they could not stay there unless they 




OLD PETER TELLS A STORY 


79 


would do what the twelve men had agreed upon. They did not 
like this, you may be sure, but they were very tired and hungry, 
and the twelve had all the food. So they said that they would 
work and do just as the twelve had agreed. 

And so, after that, the eighty-eight men and women used to 
do the work. They caught fish and hunted animals and cooked 
the food for all. They cut down trees and built houses. They 
dug the soil and planted corn and other good things. The first 
man, he who said the land was his, did no work at all. The 
other eleven, the ones who said they owned the hut, the food and 
the tools, gave the working people orders where and when to 
dig, and where and when to build houses, and so on. 

It would take too long to tell you all about the way in which 
they used to live on the island. I can only tell you to-day that 
the place proved to be a very good home for all the people. 
They soon had a great many nice homes and rich farms. Very 
few of the people ever wanted to go back to their old home, 
though they did want to go to the Land of Heart’s Desire, the 
happy land which they left their homes to seek, but failed to 
find. 

Each year they used to divide up the wealth which had been 
produced. All the animals, fruit, corn, and other things had to 
be shared. Now, the ones who did the sharing were the twelve. 
And this is how they did it. When they were sharing out the 
corn, for instance, they put all the corn in bushel bags and gave 
the shares out as they agreed. 

Out of every hundred bushels the first man, who owned the 
island, got fifty-five bushels for himself. 




80 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


The eleven men, who owned the tools and other things, got 
thirty-two bushels between them. 

The eighty-eight people, who did all the work, got only thir¬ 
teen bushels between them. 

They divided the animals in the same way: the man who 
said the land was his got fifty-five; the eleven men got thirty-two 
between them; the eighty-eight people got only thirteen to be 
divided among themselves. So you will see that the twelve men 
soon got to be very rich, while all the others were very poor. 
No matter how hard they might work, they were always very 
poor. Was not that a funny way for people to act? 

“But, Peter, is that story really true?'* asked Agnes. 

“Yes, dear,” replied Peter. “The story is all true, every 
word of it. Even though there was no such ship, and no ship¬ 
wreck, and no such island, still every word of the story is true.” 

“Why, what can you mean, Peter?” asked the children all 
at one time. “ How^ can the story be all true if there was no 
ship and no island?” 

“Ah, that, my dear little friends, is a big riddle. You must 
find out what it means. Good afternoon,” said Old Peter. Then 
he went away chuckling to himself. 

For a long time the children sat there trying to find out what 
Peter meant. At last Rob spoke and said, “ 1 know what it means. 
It is a fable, a parable, which Peter has told us. It is all true in 
one way, because it shows us just the exact truth. The ship is 
meant for the life of the people. The Land of Heart's Desire is 
the happy state of life which all good people hope for and want to 
bring about. The island which they called ‘Capitalia' is the 





OLD PETER TELLS A STORY 


81 


condition o£ things which we have now, in which people are not 
all happy, some ol them being rich and some poor and sad. 
Peter was only showing us just how the wealth which is made by 
the labor ot many people is shared so unjustly that a few get 
most of it. So it is all true, just as he said, though there was no 
ship really and no island.” 

“Yes, Rob, I am sure you are right,” said Agnes. “I see 
it all very clearly. I can understand things now which I never 
could understand before. Old Peter is a wonderful old man.” 


QUESTIONS 

What did Peter mean by the Land of Heart's Desire? 
What was the name of the island? Why did the first man 
claim the island as his own ? What did he want the people to 
give him for the use of the land? Would there be rent under 
Socialism? What did the eleven men claim? Would a few 
people own all the tools under Socialism ? Would the people 
have to pay interest to the capitalists? How many bushels of 
corn did the people have to give the owner of the land for rent ? 
How many bushels did they give to the eleven capitalists ? How 
many did the eighty-eight people get among them ? Is that the 
manner in which wealth is divided now ? Do Socialists want to 
alter this ? How would they alter it ? 




EIGHTH READING 

THE MEANING OF MAY DAY 


Every year, on the first day ol May, the Socialists of all 
parts of the world hold great meetings. Sometimes thousands of 
people march to the meetings behind bands of music and carry 
many flags and banners with them. They call the day ** Labor’s 
holiday.” 

The children were eager to know why Socialists make the 
day a holiday, and they were very happy when Mr. Webb made 
a promise that he would explain it to them. There was to be a 
great May Day meeting at which Mr. Webb was to make a 
speech, and many Socialist children were to sing. Rob and May 
and their three cousins were all going to the meeting with their 
mothers and Miss Brooks. For more than a week they counted 
the days, so eager were they for May Day to arrive. 

On the evening before the event, the last day of April, Mr. 
Webb told the children all about it. That day was May’s birth¬ 
day, and so the children held a little party. About twenty other 
boys and girls came to the party, all of them being the children 
of Socialists. Some of these little Socialists were very poor and 
had never before been in such a nice home. They were shy at 
first, but soon forgot their shyness in their frolic. 

All the children called each other “Comrade,” just like 
grown-up Socialists do. They had cakes and milk and ice cream, 
which they liked very much, and Mrs. Webb gave each child a 
nice toy. The little girls were given dolls and sets of dishes and 


THE MEANING OF MAY DAY 83 


the boys were given tops and boats and kites. It was quite a 
merry party. 

Then, before the party broke up, Mr. Webb came into the 
room and told them about the meaning of May Day. He told it 
in very simple words which the very youngest child could under¬ 
stand, and all the children kept quiet and still while he was speak¬ 
ing. This is what he told them: 

“In the year 1888 the trades unions of America decided to 
make the first of May a great festival day for the workers. 
They thought that upon that day the workers in all the cities and 
towns should hold big meetings and festivals for the purpose of 
showing that all workers must unite in one great movement, no 
matter whether they belong to the same race or not. Workers 
from all countries, women as well as men, must unite and help to 
bring about peace and good-will among all people. 

“In the next year, 1889, the Socialists of all parts of the 
world held a great meeting in Paris. They talked about many 
things which were for the good of the working-people. One of 
the things they talked about was the plan of the American trade 
unions to set apart one day in the year when the workingmen 
and women could come together and show their desire for the 
glad time when all people will live in peace as brothers and 
sisters. They all agreed that it would be a good thing for the 
workers to meet all over the world for this purpose. 

“Each year since then May Day has been a great Socialist 
event, a day set apart for meetings and joy. In most of the big 
cities meetings are held at which speeches are made to the peo¬ 
ple by wise and good men, telling them how the Socialist cause 





84 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


grows, and asking them to do their best to bring about a Socialist 
victory. Very often the speakers come from different countries, 
and speak in different languages, just to show that Socialism 
means happiness for all men and women in the world. 

“ I do not know why the first of May was chosen as the 
day for^this festival of the workers. Perhaps it was just by 
chance that they chose a day which for many hundreds of years 
has been looked upon as a day of joy and blessing. For you 
must know that May Day is really one of the very oldest festival 
days in the history of the world. 

“Thousands of years ago the Romans had a feast called 
the ‘Floralia,’ which means the gala of flowers. The Romans, 
as I suppose you all know, used to worship all sorts of gods and 
goddesses. When winter died away and spring came they held a 
feast in honor of their goddess named Flora, who was supposed 
to bring life to the trees and to give flowers and fruit. The 
‘Floralia,’ then, was a great feast in honor of Flora, the goddess 
of spring. It lasted three or four days, and all the people decked 
themselves with pretty blossoms and played beautiful flower 
games. 

“Wise men tell us that the people of India had a feast of 
the same sort many hundreds of years before the Romans. They 
tell us that May was looked upon as a sacred month, because it 
was the month when all the trees and flowers seemed to waken 
into life again. It was called the Month of the Mother, just 
because the buds which came in May were looked upon as little 
babies of the flowers^ and the month in which they came was 
looked upon as the mother of these little baby buds. Even to 






FLORALIA 

























86 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


this day the people who live in Catholic countries call May the 
Month of Mary the Mother. 

“ This is a very nice thought, and I am glad we have chosen 
May Day as the great Socialist holiday, for Socialism is the 
only movement which wants to give to women the same rights 
and the same honor as to men; which really and truly honors 
motherhood. 

“Just as the Romans had their feast in honor of their god¬ 
dess Flora, the mother of spring, so the people who were called 
Celts, the people who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and parts 
of England and France, had a festival called the ‘Beltein.’ The 
Celts used to worship the sun, and when in the spring the days 
began to lengthen and to grow warmer, they held their ‘Beltein* 
festivals. Great big bonfires were kindled upon all the hills, and 
the people danced around them in their joy. 

“Later on, all through the Middle Ages, May Day was 
made a very beautiful holiday. All the men and women and the 
boys and girls in a town or village would get up very early in 
the morning, as soon as it began to get light, and go into the 
woods and fields to gather flowers and branches. Such a happy 
time this was! All the people would be very merry, some of 
them singing sweet songs, others playing popular tunes upon 
flutes and whistles. Almost always there was an old fiddler who 
went in front of the party playing his fiddle. 

“At this time the hawthorn was in blossom in most places; 
so it got to be called ‘ May,’ and when the people brought home 
great branches of hawthorn and baskets of flowers, they used 
to sing 





THE MEANING OF MAY DAY 87 


‘Here we come bringing home flowers and May/ 

When they got home with their loads of branches and blossoms 
they went through the streets, decking every door and window 
with them, making the houses look very beautiful. Then there 
was more music and dancing, and the young woman or girl who 
was most beautiful, or best loved, would be made the Queen of 
May. The boys and girls would make a crown of hawthorn 
blossoms and flowers and put it upon her head. Then there 
was always a great dance, in which the May Queen led. 

“Of course, to be chosen as the May Queen was a very 
great honor, and any girl would be very proud of it. The Eng¬ 
lish poet Tennyson has written of a little girl who was to be the 
May Queen, and shown how eager she was to be in time for the 
big day, as eager as most of you are to be up early when you are 
to go on a picnic. There is not time for me to recite all the poem 
for you to-day, but I shall give you two verses, and hope that you 
will read and learn the whole of the poem for yourselves: 

“ You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear. 

To-morrow *\l be the happiest time of all the glad New Year; 

Of all the glad New Year, mother, the maddest, merriest day; 

For Fm to be Queen o’ the May, mother. I’m to be Queen o’ the May. 

“There’s many a black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; 

There’s Margaret and Mary, there’s Kate and Caroline; 

But none so fair as little Alice in all the land, they say. 

So I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother. I’m to be Queen o* the May. 


“Well, dear children, I am sure that by this time you must 





88 SOCIALIST ‘READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


have thought that the May parties which you have every year, 
when you go into the parks or the woods and crown your May 
Queen with garlands of flowers, are something like these old 
English May festivals. They are something like them, and I have 
no doubt that the idea of holding such May parties as we hold 
for children in our cities comes down to us from those old and 
happy festivals of hundreds of years ago. 

“But I must tell you about the May-pole and the May-pole 
dance—an old English custom which ought to be revived. Some 
day, when people all live happier lives than they do now, when 
we have Socialism in fact, I hope that we shall go back to the 
past and take up some of their old joyful customs, and the May- 
pole dance is one of these. 

“ In front of the village church, or upon the green, or in the 
middle of the town square, the people used to set the very biggest 
pole they could get. Often the pole when set up was a great 
deal higher than the church steeple. The pole was set in a great 
heap of stones which was covered with moss and flowers, and 
there were steps leading up to it. Sometimes the May-pole was 
painted with stripes of red, white, and blue, just like barbers’ 
poles are now painted. Always the pole was covered with leaves 
and flowers, so that it was a most beautiful sight. 

“Then, when the May Queen had been crowned, came 
bands of music followed by the Queen and all the young people of 
the village. They marched around the May-pole singing and 
playing the songs which all knew and loved. Then came the 
dance. The May Queen chose her partner, and together they 
led the dance, all the people except the very old, the sick, and 





THE MEANING OF MAY DAY 89 


the lame joining in. There were some very old people living in 
the English villages, only a Jew years ago, who could remember 
the May-pole dances of their childhood. 

‘T have told you all this about May Day customs simply 
because I want you all to know that our Socialist festival-day is 
a very old one, which once had a very happy meaning. I want 
you to think of it as the day which, for many thousands of years, 
people in all lands and of many religions have given to the joyful 
welcome of new life upon the earth; the day when men and 
women have felt the gladness of life, and sung and danced with 
a common joy. I am glad that the day which the Socialists of all 
the world have chosen for their festival has a history so full of 
happiness and beauty as May Day has. 

“We do not set up the May-pole in the streets, and dance 
around it in glee, as people did long ago; we do not go to the 
fields and woods with glad music, picking flowers to bedeck our¬ 
selves and our houses as they did. I think that is because most 
of us have not got the happy spirit and the love of Nature’s 
beauty which people had in those days long ago of which I have 
told you. 

“ But some day, I hope, when we have won our fight against 
greed and ignorance and other evils which make the world so 
sad, and when there is no more poverty in the world, people will 
again be merry upon May Day. I hope that even you boys and 
girls will live to see the May-pole dance become a common joy. 

“But to-day our Socialist comrades have given May Day to 
a very serious purpose. They meet to tell of the new life of 
Socialism, and of the happy days to come when all will be rich 





90 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


and none be poor. They tell of the great number of Socialists 
in every land who are working to make life free and glad and 
full of beauty for all. They ask all who will listen to them to join 
in putting an end to war among the nations, so that all may live 
in peace like a happy family. 

“The hope of these things will be in the heart of every 
Socialist this May Day. We shall be made glad by the story of 
the great progress of our Cause in our own and other lands, and 
we shall feel that our hopes are not in vain, but that some day 
men and women will become so wise that there will be no more 
war and bitter strife, no more poverty and misery. 

" These things shall be! A loftier race 
Then e er the world hath known shall rise 
With flower of freedom in their souls 
And light of science in their eyes.” 


QUESTIONS 

What day do the Socialists of the world keep jor a festival? 
Who first proposed that the workers should keep May Day as a 
holiday ? When ? In what year did the Socialists agree to keep 
the day ? What do they do on that day ? Is May Day a very 
old festival day ? What was the feast which the Romans held in 
May called? What was the name of the goddess of spring? In 
what country did they have a feast of the same kind many hundreds 
of years before the Romans ? Why has May been called the 
Month of the Mother? What sort of a festival was the Beltein' 




THE MEANING OF MAY DAY 


91 


of the Celts ? Through the Middle Ages people in England and 
other countries made the First of May a holiday—what did they 
do ? Why were girls made May Queens ? Do our May parties 
come from the old custom ? What was the May-pole ? What 
did people do when the May-pole was set up ? What is it that 
Socialists want to bring about? 




NINTH READING 


AGNES WRITES A SOCIALIST STORY 

One morning as Mrs. Webb came out from her husband’s 
study Agnes ran after her. The child’s face was flushed and 
she was almost too excited to talk. Mrs. Webb was afraid that 
her little niece must be ill. “Why, what is the matter, dear 
Agnes?” she asked. 

“ Oh, Auntie dear, I have such a big secret to tell; a secret 
all my very own! ” 

“And do you intend to let me know your great secret, 
Agnes?” asked Mrs. Webb with a gentle smile. “Will you tell 
it to me, and must I keep the secret all to myself and never tell 
anyone about it?” 

“Oh, dear, I don’t know if that would be right,” said Agnes 
very gravely. “ Perhaps I ought not to tell even uncle, or mamma, 
or perhaps I ought not to tell anyone — not even you.” 

Then a smile lit up her face and she asked Mrs. Webb to 
stoop so that she might whisper the wonderful secret in her ear. 
Mrs. Webb stooped down as Agnes had asked and the secret 
was told. No one but Mrs. Webb could hear what was said, 
but if you had passed by just then you would have known that 
what Agnes told her aunt must have been very nice, for Mrs. 
Webb clapped her hands in glee and kissed Agnes very heartily. 

What do you think the secret was? Well, I am sure that 
you will never be able to guess, so I will tell you. I would not 
tell you at all if it were still a secret, for that would not be 


AGNES WRITES A SOCIALIST STORY 


93 


right. But you see Agnes changed her mind about it and said 
that it could be told to anybody, so that it is not really a secret 
any more. 

“ I have written quite a long story to teach little boys and 
girls something about Socialism. A story about wild beasts in 
the forests.” This was what Agnes said to her aunt. So now 
you know what the great secret was, which was not a secret 
after all. Agnes had written a story all by herself. 

Mrs. Webb asked Agnes if she might take the story and 
read it to Mr. Webb. At first Agnes was afraid, because she 
did not know whether such a very wise man as her uncle would 
like a simple story written by a little girl. But at last she said 
that her aunt might do what she thought best with the story. 

Well, Mr. Webb was very greatly pleased with the story 
and promised Agnes that he would get it printed in one of the 
papers for Socialist children. You can imagine for yourself how 
proud little Agnes must have felt when, in a week or two, the 
postman brought a paper for her and she saw in it her story, 
printed just as she wrote it, with her name on top. I think that 
any girl or boy would have been proud to have written a story, 
without any help from anybody, and then to have had it printed, 
don’t you? 

But even better than that, Agnes got a nice letter from the 
editor of the paper, saying that the story was very good, and that 
it would help other little children to understand Socialism. No 
gift she had ever had gave Agnes half so much joy as that letter 
from the editor. 

Yes, if you like I will copy the story for you, just as Agnes 






94 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


wrote it. I hope you will like it as much as I do. But first of 
all I must write down the title, just as it was printed, in nice, big 
capital letters: 


A FAIR DIVISION 


Once upon a time, when the winter was very bitter, the 
animals of the forests suIFered greatly from hunger and cold. 
The rabbits and the squirrels and other small animals were all 
safe and snug in their little homes deep under the great drifts of 
snow. But the bigger animals were hungry and fierce. Their 
long fast had made them sp fierce that they were always fighting. 

One December morning, when the sun rose in the sky and 
lit up the snow crystals which covered the ground, the Lion, king 
of the forest, stalked out from his den with a proud look. Raising 
his head, he looked with disdain at everything around him, and 
then gave a loud roar that was heard far away in the remote 
parts of the forest. It was a call to the members of his council. 
Now, all the animals of the forest knew the voice of their King, 
and they could tell by his roar whether he was in a good or an 
evil temper. They knew that this time their King was in a good 
mood, and that they need not be afraid. They wondered at this, 
for they also knew that he must be hungry. 

All the animals who were members of the King’s council 
made haste to obey the call of His Majesty King Lion. The 
first to appear on the scene was the Tiger. Making a few circles 





AGNES WRITES A SOCIALIST STORY 


95 


around the spot where King Lion stood, he bent his head very 
low, as if to say, “Well, Your Majesty, what can I do for you?” 

Then over the crackling snow came another animal. Wag¬ 
ging his bushy tail from side to side came Reynard the Fox, most 
cunning of all the animals of the forest. Bowing low before King 
Lion, he humbly kissed his forepaw. Then he made a low bow 
to the Tiger. Close on his heels came the Dog, looking very 
hungry. He stopped at a distance from the rest, either because 
he was very modest or because he was afraid of the Tiger. 
There were some other animals, too, but we do not need to name 
them. They have nothing to do with our story. 

Then King Lion made a long speech to his loyal subjects. 
Of course he could only roar and roar and roar, but the animals 
understood what each roar meant. This is what he said to 
them: 

“Friends: We are living in very bad times. Our lot is a 
very hard one, but we should be worse off if we should do like 
our cousins, the human beings, and injure each other. We must 
live in friendly relations with each other. You know that you 
cannot get a better ruler than I am; that none can strike so 
great a blow as our friend the Tiger in a fight. Our friend the 
Fox is very wise and shrewd, and the Dog is also wise and swift. 

“Now, we must all work together and be good friends. We 
have the same common interests. Our friend the Dog must 
make it his duty to go through the forest to search out the prey. 
Then, when he has found it, with the aid of his sharp nose, he 
must tell friend Fox, who will use all his cunning to lure it into 
the open, where the Tiger will pounce upon it with his strong 




96 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


paws. Then the prey must be brought to me and I will divide it 
justly, like a just King should.” 

I ought to say that all the animals thought King Lion was a 
very wise ruler. When he got through with his speech they all 



agreed that the plan was a very good one. Even the Fox agreed 
to it, but anyone could tell that he was afraid to disagree and to 
say what he really thought. 

Then the animals set olF to do what they had been told to do 
by King Lion. The Dog had to wade through the deep drifts of 
snow in search of the lairs of small animals. He kept at it for 
many weary hours, the Fox and the Tiger following at a distance. 









AGNES WRITES A SOCIALIST STORY 


97 


Next to the Dog came the Fox who had to hurry to keep in sight 
of the Dog. Then came the Tiger who followed the others very 
steadily. 

Behind them all came King Lion, walking very slowly. He 
did not hurry, because he knew that whatever the others caught 
would be brought to him to be divided in shares. And he smiled 
as he walked, as much as to say, “Fm a very clever fellow to 
make them get my living for me, a very clever fellow indeed!” 

Suddenly the Dog stopped and began to dig the snow. He 
gave a long, loud howl, as if to tell the others that some prey was 
near. Then a young wolf jumped out from behind a briar bush, 
as if he thought the howl was his mother’s voice calling him. 
When he saw the Dog he was frightened and dared not move, 
so afraid was he. Then the cunning old Fox went up behind him 
and said, “You sweet little fellow, you need not fear while I am 
with you. Come, I will take you where you belong.” 

The poor young wolf thought the Fox a very good friend 
and was grateful for being saved. He was just thanking the 
Fox for saving him, when bang! down came the Tiger’s paw, 
knocking him senseless. The fierce and cruel Tiger then gave 
the victim another blow to kill him, and ordered the Dog and the 
Fox to drag the corpse to King Lion. 

In a very little while they came to the place where the King 
stood waiting. “Well done! Bravo, my good fellows!” he cried, 
and then he began to divide the prey. He cut off the head first, 
then the tail. After that he cut the body in four equal parts. 

“This belongs to me because I am King,” he said, taking up 
one of the four pieces and putting it out of reach. “This also 




98 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


belongs to me,” he went on, taking another of the four pieces, 
“for it was my brain which made the plan of the hunt. I am 
also fairly entitled to this piece,” he added, as he took up the 
third piece, “because I followed you to see that you did just 
what I told you.” 

By this time the Tiger thought that King Lion meant to take 
everything. He became very angry. His eyes shone like great 
balls of fire, and he gave a terrible roar which the King knew to 
be a threat. 

“Have patience, my friend,” said the King. “You are not 
to be left out. This is for you,” saying which he gave the Tiger 
the last of the four quarters of the body. He added in a whisper 
which the Tiger did not hear, being busy over his meal, “Your 
blows hurt and I must avoid them if I can.” 

Now only the head and the tail were left. Up spoke the 
Fox: “Your Majesty,” he said, “pray do not forget your humble 
servant whose brain has so often served you.” The King of the 
forest looked at the Fox for a moment with a grim smile. Then 
he said, “ I have not forgotten thee. As thou must depend chiefly 
upon thy head thou shalt have the head to feed on. We need 
more brains of thee.” Then he flung the head of the wolf to^^the 
Fox whom he had fooled. 

All this time the poor Dog stood at a distance with his head 
and tail both hanging very low, not daring to raise his voice in 
protest. At last, by moving about, he managed to get the King 
to notice him. 

“ Humble friend! ” cried the King then, “ I had quite forgot¬ 
ten you, and that you, too, must have a share. I am very glad 




AGNES WRITES A SOCIALIST STORY 


99 


to notice how patient and respectful you are.” Pieking up the 
tail of the wolf he said, “ Here, my friend, is your share. Eat it 
and keep lean, so that you can run well. Too much food would 
disable you and make you unfit for your position in life.” 

“Your Majesty is very wise and knows what is best for us,” 
said the Dog, humbly bowing before King Lion. Then he walked 
away to chew the tail and keep lean. 

Of course, my tale is only a fable really. And like all good 
fables it has a moral. When the wealth which the working-peo¬ 
ple produce is given over to the powerful to be divided, the 
powerful will always keep most of it and give the least and the 
worst to the workers. When the workers are strong enough and 
wise enough to protect their rights, like the Tiger in the story, 
then they get more than when they are weak and humble like 
the Dog. 

And when the rich and powerful capitalists try to make the 
workers believe that both classes should unite, that they have the 
same interests, the workers should always think of how the Lion 
fooled the other animals. If they do not, they will be fooled, too, 
and get treated as the Fox and the Dog were treated. 


QUESTIONS 

What was the interest of the Lion in the story? If the 
Lion s interest was to get food without the trouble of finding and 
killing it for himself, what was the interest of the other animals ? 




100 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Are the interests of the capitalists and the workers the same? 
What is the interest of the capitalist? What is the worker’s in¬ 
terest ? Why did the Lion give the Tiger one of the big pieces of 
meat? Do the workers get most when they are united in unions 
so that they can fight, like the Tiger, or when they are weak and 
humble, like the Dog? If the workers should believe that the 
capitalists are their friends, and join with them, what would hap¬ 
pen to them ? 




TENTH READING 

A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 

The children had 
often heard about Karl 
Marx, of whom a large 
portrait hung upon the 
wall in Mr. Webb’s 
study. Agnes grew to 
love the picture and felt 
as if she knew the man. 
“I think he must have 
been a lovely old gen¬ 
tleman,” she often said. 

One day the chil¬ 
dren had a little meet¬ 
ing in their play room. 
Just for fun they made 
believe that it was a 
very important matter 
to hold such a meeting. Rob was the chairman and May wrote 
down all that was done. Then they elected Agnes and Rob as 
a committee to go and ash Miss Brooks if she would be kind 
enough to come and give them a little lecture about Karl Marx. 
You see, they had heard that the Socialist comrades often elect 
committees to invite people to lecture to them, and thought that 
they would do the same. 



102 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


When Agnes and Rob told Miss Brooks about it and asked 
her to lecture to the children, she was very much pleased and 
told them that she would lecture to them in the play room the 
next evening. “ I am very glad you want me to talk to you about 
Karl Marx,” she said, “tor he was a wise man and a great 
friend of little children.” 

Agnes and Rob thought that it would be very nice if they 
had tickets for the lecture, just like grown-up people do. So 
they asked George to print some nice tickets on his printing 
press, and George was very glad to do it. He really loved to 
print and was always very careful not to misspell the words or 
to put small letters in place of capitals. This is what the tickets 
said and how they looked: 


MISS EDITH BROOKS 

— WILL GIVE — 

A Lecture to Boys and Girls 

— ON- 

THE LIFE OF KARL MARX 

In the Play Room on Wednesday Evening 
Half Past Seven 

Rob will take the chair and each person must pay Ten Cents 


I suppose you will think that they really charged ten cents 
for the tickets, but to tell you the truth that was just make- 
believe. Instead of ten cents the children paid each other bits of 
paper or stone for the tickets. 

When the time came for the lecture the play room was 










A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 


103 


looking very bright and nice. Rob and George had made a stage 
at one end tor Miss Brooks to stand upon, and put bunting all 
around it to hide the wood. The girls had filled a big vase with 
flowers and placed it upon the table on the stage, and Mr, Webb 
had brought the big picture of Karl Marx and hung it above the 
stage, so that all could see it. The room was a very pleasant 
sight. The children had invited a number of their little friends, 
and there were also present Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Brown, 
Old Peter the cobbler, Lizzie the cook, and quite a number of 
other people whose names I do not know, 

Rob was chairman and made a little speech. “ Ladies and 
gentlemen,” he said, “we are glad to welcome you here to-night. 
We are only children, but we are trying to learn, so that we will 
grow up to be wise men and women. Miss Brooks is going to 
lecture to us about a wise man called Karl Marx, and everyone 
must be quiet while she talks.” All the people clapped their 
hands when Rob finished his little speech and again when Miss 
Brooks rose to begin her lecture. I am sorry that I could not 
write down all that Miss Brooks said, but I will tell you as much 
as I can remember of her lecture: 

“There is a very old town in Germany, in the province of 
the Rhine, called Treves. It is, I think, the oldest town in all 
Germany. There are some fine old Roman ruins there, which 
show that it was once ruled by the Romans. 

“In this old city, in the year 1818, a little baby boy was 
born of Jewish parents. The father and mother were very 
happy to have a little baby boy, and wondered what name they 
should give him. They agreed at last that the child should bear 




104 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


two names of which the German people are very fond — Karl and 
Heinrich. So little Karl Heinrich Marx was named. 

“When his parents used to call him they did not often use 
both names. They called him Karl, and there were many who 
did not know that the child had a middle name. 

“ When Karl was just able to talk and run to meet his father, 
the little curly-headed fellow would climb upon his papa’s knee 
and ask him to tell nice stories. Now, Karl’s papa was a very 
wise man. He was a lawyer and fond of reading very big books 
full of hard words. But he knew all the folk-tales and legends 
which little boys and girls in Germany love to hear, and he could 
tell them to his little boy in very simple words. There was 
nothing which Karl liked so much as to hear his father tell these 
stories. By the time he was big enough to go to school, little 
Karl knew a great many stories and legends. He knew most of 
the fables and fairy stories his father used to tell. 

“When Karl was big enough to go to school he had a little 
friend called Jenny, with whom he used to play. Karl’s papa and 
Jenny’s papa were very dear friends and they were happy when 
the two children grew to be playmates. Jenny’s papa was a 
good and wise man, half German and half Scotch, who was very 
fond of children. Like Karl’s papa, he loved to tell stories to 
children. So when Jenny’s papa told stories to his little daughter 
Karl was nearly always there to listen; and when Karl’s papa 
told stories to his son, Jenny was nearly always by his side. 

“Jenny’s papa was a rich nobleman, named Westphalen, and 
little Jenny Westphalen was one of the prettiest girls in the town. 
She had lots of friends, but the friend she loved best of all, her 





A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 


105 


constant playmate, was the boy Marx, Mr. Marx read to the 
two children, when they grew big enough to understand them, 
stories and poems from the writings of Voltaire and Racine, two 
famous French writers. Jenny's father read to them stories 
from Homer and Shakespeare, wonderful stories which the chil¬ 
dren listened to with eager interest. 

- "Karl was a very clever boy, and at school was always at 
the head of his class. He was quite full of mischief, however, 
and loved to play pranks upon the other boys. One thing he did 
which made all the other boys afraid of him was to write verses 
making fun of them. I suppose he learned to write verses from 
hearing his father and Mr. Westphalen read so much poetry. 
Some of these verses which he wrote about his school-fellows are 
still remembered in Germany, so clever were they. 

" Karl went to college when he was old enough. He studied 
hard and became a very learned man, a Doctor of Philosophy. 
The word ‘Doctor,' you must know, is not only the title which 
is given to men whose work is to heal the sick. Long before it 
was given to such men, it was the title of the very wise men 
who taught people to understand many difficult things. So Karl 
Marx was called ‘Doctor Marx' because he was learned and 
wise and able to teach other young men and women in the col¬ 
leges. 

‘‘He was grown to be a man now, and little Jenny had put 
away her dolls and toys and become a woman. They say that 
she was one of the most beautiful women in all that part of Ger¬ 
many. She and Karl still loved each other very much, and one 
day they got married. I think there was never a happier bride 




106 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


than Jenny was, and Karl Marx, or Doctor Marx as we ought to 
call him, was the happiest man to be found anywhere. 

“ Some people who are very happy when they are first mar¬ 
ried do not remain so. They cease to love each other and 
become very unhappy. But Karl Marx and his wife were always 
very happy and loved each other dearly. They lived together 
nearly forty years, until Mrs. Marx died, and I am sure that" in 
all that time they were lovers just as they were when, on their 
wedding trip, they went to Bingen on the Rhine together. 

“To tell you all the story of the life of this wonderful man 
would take far too long a time, and there are some things which 
you would not be able to understand. I hope that when you are 
grown up you will read the story of his life for yourselves. 
To-day I can only tell you some of the things he did which have 
made all the Socialists of the world honor his name. 

“ Soon after they were married, Marx and his wife went to 
live in Paris, the capital of France. He was not a Socialist then, 
but was very much interested in Socialism. You children will 
remember that when I told you the story of Robert Owen I said 
that Socialism in those days meant starting colonies and sharing 
the work and the wealth equally. Well, Karl Marx could not 
believe in that. But he did believe that the world was all the 
time growing nearer to a social state in which there would be no 
poverty, and in which the people would own, through their gov¬ 
ernments, the factories and mines, the railroads and other things 
which are used by capitalists to get profits out of the labor of 
other people. 

“So Karl Marx wrote very learned books to show the 






A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 107 


working people that they could not improve their condition in life 
hy trying to make little colonies and dividing the wealth to make 
all men and women equal. He showed them that they must work 
to get the people as a whole, through the government, to own the 
land, the mines, the factories, the forests, the railroads, and other 
things which, when they are owned by a few people, give the 
owners the power to get rich without working, and to make the 
working people poor. 

“ He showed that great ‘ trusts ’ would grow up and so give 
a very small number of people the power to rule the lives of all 
the rest. I suppose that you do not know what is meant by a 
trust. Well, it is very hard for boys and girls to fully understand 
these things, but I will try to tell you so plainly that you will 
knov' something at least of what is meant. I will take the coal 
trust for an example. 

‘‘ In the old days, the days when Karl Marx lived, each mine 
was owned by a different man or company. Sometimes coal 
would be sold more cheaply at one mine than at another, because 
each company, or each mine owner, tried to sell more coal 
than the other. If a merchant wanted to buy coal for sale at a 
certain mine and found that the price was too high, he would go 
to some other mine where he could buy cheaper. That was 
called competition, a very long word which I am afraid you will 
not be able to remember, but it is the only word I can use. Try 
to remember it, then—c-o-m-p-e-t-i-t-i-o-n. 

“ Well, Karl Marx told the people in his books that some 
day the owners of mines would give up this way of doing busi¬ 
ness. Some would have to sell so cheap that they could not 





108 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


afFord to work the mines. Others would find out that it would 
be easier to agree with each other, so that all would charge 
the same price. Then, he said, it would not take very long for 
many owners and many companies to join together in one big 
company. Then, when a few men control all the coal mines, they 
would be able to make people pay high prices. 

“The clever men who lived then nearly all thought that 
Marx was wrong. They called him a dreamer. But to-day we 
know that he was right. We have coal trusts, sugar trusts, flour 
trusts, oil trusts, and many others, which means that these things 
are under the control of little groups of men, and that all the rest 
of the people are obliged to pay just what the trusts say. So we 
know that Marx was right. In all parts of the world now the 
very wisest people all admit that Karl Marx foretold just what 
has really taken place. So they say that he was a great genius 
and one of the wisest men who ever lived. 

“ But Karl Marx did more than that. He told the working¬ 
men of Europe and America, just how they could form political 
parties and movements to bring about better conditions. At first 
he had only a few followers, but to-day there are many millions 
of working-people who are doing just what Marx advised. They 
are working to bring about Socialism. 

“I do not think that I need tell you any more about his 
work, because, as I have said before, it is very hard for boys and 
girls to understand these things. But I am sure that you will 
want to hear something more about the kind of man he was. He 
was not only a very wise man, but was also very kind and loving. 

“He was very poor. Sometimes he and his wife did not 




A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 


109 


have enough food to eat, and they were forced to live in very 
poor homes most of the time. Because the rich and powerful 
people of Germany and France were opposed to him, and did not 
want him to teach the working people the truth, he was not 
allowed to live in either of those countries.] 

“ If the police knew that he was in Germany, the land where 
he was born, they would tell him that he must leave or go to 
prison. If he went to France to live the rich and powerful people 
there made the police send him out of the country. So most of 
his life after his marriage was spent in England. The rich and 
powerful people in England would have been glad to send him 
away, too, but the laws of England did not permit that, the English 
people being more free than the people of most other countries. 

“ Perhaps you wonder why such a clever man should have 
been so poor. I can tell you that in a very few words. He need 
not have been poor. If he would have done what the rich men 
wanted him to do he could have been very rich. Once Prince 
Bismarck of Germany offered him a big salary if he would only 
edit a paper for him and give up his work for the poor and 
oppressed. Marx refused the offer, although at the time he and 
his wife were living in great poverty. He would not serve the 
rich, but gave all his life to the cause of the poor and the suffer¬ 
ing. That is why he was so poor and that is why, too, the 
working people have come to love and honor his memory. 

“ Karl Marx was very fond.of little children. To his own 
children he was always a companion as well as a father. He 
loved to play and romp with them, and visitors to his home often 
found him upon his knees playing donkey and riding the children 












AND VISITORS TO HIS HOME OFTEN FOUND HIM UPON HIS KNEES PLAYING DONKEY AND RIDING 

THE CHILDREN UPON HIS BACK 














A LITTLE TALK ABOUT KARL MARX 


in 


upon his back. Even the children on the streets of London, where 
he lived, got to know him and love him as their friend, and he 
would often stop and play with them. When they saw him com¬ 
ing, the boys and girls used to shout, ‘Here comes Daddy 
Marx!’ and run after him. And the great man, one of the 
wisest men in all Europe, would take them upon his shoulder, or 
in his arms, and let them play with his long whiskers. 

“ Those boys and girls did not know that the man they loved 
and called ‘ Daddy Marx’ was one of the wisest men in London, 
nor that his name was known all over the world as a great 
thinker, but they did know that he loved little children. He died 
in the month of March, 1883. 

‘T am sure that you will all agree with me that Karl Marx 
was a wonderful man; that he was as good as he was wise.” 

When Miss Brooks finished speaking, all the children and all 
the grown-up people clapped their hands. They all thought that 
she was right in calling Karl Marx a wise and good man. 

Agnes walked up to her very shyly and gave her a loving 
kiss. Then she said, “I know that Socialism must be a grand 
cause. Miss Brooks, for it was Socialism that made Karl Marx 
the good man he was.” 


QUESTIONS 

When was Karl Marx born ? Where ? What was the name 
of his little playmate ? What did he do at school? What title did 
he obtain in college ? Whom did he marry ? Were Marx and his 
wife very happy? Did Karl Marx believe in Socialist Colonies 




112 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


like those Robert Owen used to believe in ? What did he want 
people to own through their government? What was it that he 
told the people would grow up and give a few people the power to 
rule the lives of all the rest? What is a trust'*? Did trusts 
grow up as he said they would? Where did Marx live most of 
the time ? Why did he not live in Germany or France ? Marx 
did something else besides writing books for the working-people — 
what was it? Was he rich or poor? Why was he so poor? 
What did Prince Bismarck offer him ? Why did he refuse the 
offer? Was he fond of little children? When did he die? 
What did Agnes say it was that made Karl Marx the good man 
he was ? 






ELEVENTH READING 

OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 


The children were all at the window one wet and stormy 
day, watching the rain as it fell in torrents. The gutters were 
full of thick, muddy water rushing along like so many rivers. 
There were not many people upon the street, only now and then 
a draggled and mud-stained man or woman, dripping wet, hastened 
along. 

Somehow, in a way I cannot explain to you, the wet weather 
seemed to spoil the day for the children, even though they were 
all inside, in a nice, bright, warm room, with all sorts of games 
and books. The rain outside seemed to make them feel sad and 
dull. 

“Oh, I wish that Old Peter would come to-day,” said Rob 
after a while. “ It would be so good to have him tell us a new 
story upon this nasty, wet day.” 

“Yes, I wish he would come,” said May. “It is never dull 
when Old Peter is here. Rain or no rain, he would make the 
day a very happy one. But even Old Peter, who loves rain and 
wind, could not come in this storm.” 

“Why, there he is coming!” shouted George, clapping his 
hands. “See, there he is now!” 

It was really true. Old Peter was coming, just as if some 
good fairy had sent him. He wore a long raincoat which 
reached down to his heels and did not seem to mind the rain a 
bit. Just as he got to the door all the children began to tap the 


114 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


window panes and to wave their hands in warm welcome to him. 
And Old Peter smiled back to them and kissed his fingers and 
made believe that he was throwing kisses to each of them. 

Old Peter was a very queer fellow. He really loved to be 
out in the rain and to feel the strong wind against his face. He 
was very happy when the storm seemed to take away his breath. 
"It’s good for a body to be washed and blown a bit by Mother 
Nature,” he would say when asked about it. 

You see, once, when he was young, Peter had been a 
sailor, and he loved to feel the gale. Perhaps it made him think 
of the days when he was young and enjoyed the rough storms at 
sea. I only know that every time there was a big storm Old 
Peter would cease working and go out for a walk. And upon 
this day he could not work, even though some of his customers 
wanted their shoes in a big hurry. 

There seemed to be voices in the storm which called him 
away from his bench. “Come away. Old Peter! Come with us! 
Come out into the wind and the rain and be happy!” they seemed 
to say to him. At first Old Peter tried not to listen to the voices 
which spoke to him out of the storm, for he was really anxious 
to finish the shoes for his customers. But the voices would not 
be still. “ Come, Peter! Come and be happy 1 Why are you 
working in that musty old shop when there is such wonderful 
wind and rain? Come and feel free and young. Old Peter!” 

So at last Old Peter threw down his hammer and the shoes, 
put on his coat and hat and went out. But he did not walk about 
without purpose. Nobody ever knew Peter to do that. He was 
all the time doing something. When you met him on the street, 







OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 115 


if he was not carrying shoes to or from the homes of his cus¬ 
tomers he was some Socialist 

errand. So to- jW/ day, through all the rain and wind, 
he was going around to collect the 

money which the Socialist com¬ 

rades gave^opaypapers 
and books. That is why he was calling 

upon Mr. Webb upon VlJ ^^ such a day. 

The children knew that their old friend 

would not go away with- out coming to see them. 

They knew that when ^ l^ad done his business 

with Mr. Webb he would come upstairs to 

them, but they could hardly wait. It seemed 

such a long time before /( came. 

At last they heard \ his footsteps outside the 

door and all rushed to ^ y i open the door and 

welcome him. They dragged him into the 

room, shouting, ‘‘Wei- come, Peter! Come, 

tell us a new story!” And Old Peter, just to show how happy 
he was, danced around the room singing: 

“ Ho! Ho! The wind and rain for me! 

Wind and rain are always free! 

Song of wind and kiss of rain 
Bring my young days back again! ” 

“Well, my little friends, what sort of a story shall I tell you 
to-day,” asked Peter when he had finished his song. “ Shall I tell 
you about giants or goblins?” 





116 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


“Oh, Peter, tell us about some of the wonderful things you 
saw when you were a sailor,” said Rob. “Can’t you tell us 
about some of the strange lands you visited and the funny people 
who live there?” 

“Why, bless my life, the very thing for a day like this!” 
cried the old man. “A day like this is the best for a sailor’s yarn. 
I’ve been to a country many times bigger than the United States 
and seen wonderful things there. Yet you never hear a word 
about that great land in the schools, and there is no map of it 
anywhere. And though it is the oldest country in all the world, 
I believe, most people know nothing about it, and even say that 
no such a place exists. Shall I tell you about it?” 

All the children wanted to hear about the strange land and 
told Peter so. Only George wanted to know the name of it 
first. Old Peter smiled and said, “ No, my lad, not yet. When 
I have told you all about my life there I want you to guess if you 
can what its name is. So listen to every word of my tale.” 

In a moment all the children were still and quiet. Then 
Old Peter gave a sly little chuckle and began: 

“ I was a very young chap when I landed in the most beau¬ 
tiful country in the world. It was when I was going to sea. I 
was cabin boy upon a ship called the Polly Ann, and we went upon 
long voyages. Sometimes we were away from home for more 
than a year. The Polly Ann was a sailing ship, you see, and 
could not go so fast as the new ocean steamers do. It was very 
rough sometimes, but I loved the life. 

“The best friend I had among the crew was a sailor named 
Hope. He was quite an old chap, but he took a great interest 






OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 117 


in me and treated me very kindly. Sometimes when there was 
not much to do he would tell me stories about strange places 
and people he had seen. Such yarns he could tell! Sailors can 
nearly always tell good stories, but Hope could beat any fellow I 
ever heard. 

“ There was one place he was never tired of talking about. 
He said that he had been to a big country which no ship could 
reach, because there was no sea near it; which no railway could 
reach, and to which there was no road that any man could walk 
on. When I asked him if he went there in a balloon, he only 
laughed and said, ‘ No, sonny, I just found myself there in a beau¬ 
tiful garden.* And though I tried many times, I could never get 
him to tell me more than that about the way to get to the strange 
land. 

“ Now, I got so much interested in this land that Old Hope 
spoke about so fondly that I wanted to go there. But I did not 
know how to reach it, and he would not tell me. ‘Ye could not 
find it by searching, but ye may get there some day without try¬ 
ing,* he would say to me sometimes. So you may be sure that I 
was puzzled worse than little boys and girls are when they see 
the man in the show take real live rabbits out of people*s hats or 
pockets. But I made up my mind that some day I would set off 
on a voyage of discovery, like Columbus did, to seek for the won¬ 
derful country. 

“One day I found myself right in the country Old Hope 
was always talking about. I found myself in a beautiful garden, 
just as he had said he found himself there. I was doing a chore 
on deck, and thinking how good the sea was, when I heard a 





118 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


whisper in my ear, * Look, Peter, this is the land you seek,’ was 
what the voice said, and when I looked around the ship was gone! 
There was no sea to be seen! I was in the midst of a splendid 
garden, and all around me, in the distance, I could see great 
mountains with their peaks hidden in the clouds. 

“There were many people in the garden, men, women, and 
children. I noticed at once that all the people looked more beau¬ 
tiful than any that I had ever seen in my life. Not one of the 
children was pale or weak, but all were strong, ruddy, and happy 
as the birds which sang so sweetly over my head. And the 
grown-up folks were just the same, all strong, beautiful, and 
happy. Not one of them had a sad or careworn look; not one 
looked sick, or tired, or poor. 

“And everything around seemed to me as lovely as the 
people were. Never had I seen the sky look as it looked then. 
Across a wide expanse of the most wonderful blue sky, which 
seemed to me to be endless, there floated great white clouds with 
parts which looked like sapphire and gold. I thought that the 
clouds took the forms of great castles with spires of sapphire and 
gold. It was something I had never seen before. 

“At first I thought that I was dreaming; that it was not 
real. I rubbed my eyes, and even pinched myself, to make sure 
that I was awake. Then I knew that I was not dreaming; that 
the scene was quite real. I knew that I was in the land Old 
Hope had told me about so often! 

“Well, very soon I made friends with the people. The first 
to speak to me was a little girl with golden hair and bright blue 
eyes. She asked me if I was a stranger, and I told her that I 




OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 119 


was. Then she took me by the hand, past a crystal fountain, to 
her mother and father, who sat listening to a band of music. 
They made me welcome, and when I told them that I was the 
friend of Old Hope they took me to their home to live with 
them. 

“ It was a lovely home, set in a quaint old rose garden. At 
first I thought that my friends must be so rich that many people 
would envy them, but I soon found out that all the people in that 
great land had homes equally beautiful. My friends were 
dressed as I had never seen mortals dressed. Not even in the 
pictures of kings and queens and courtiers had I ever seen any¬ 
thing so rich and lovely as the dresses they wore. When I saw 
them first I thought that they must be the members of the royal 
court of the land, and wondered if a very tall man I saw was the 
king. But I soon found out that everybody in that country wore 
beautiful clothes, and that the oldest person there had never seen 
shabby or poor clothes upon anyone except a poor stranger like 
myself. 

“ There was no king in the land, for it was a republic, just 
as our country is a republic. Every four years they elected a 
President, just as we do. All the citizens went out to vote on 
election day, the men and the women going together. It was a 
great holiday, and all the people seemed to be very happy, deck¬ 
ing themselves with flowers and singing merry songs. I was 
lucky to be able to see an election take place. There was no 
anger or ill-feeling shown by anybody. Some people were in 
favor of one candidate and some were for another, but all wanted 
to elect a citizen who would be a good President. That year 





120 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


they elected a woman to be President, and though it was the first 
time in twenty years for a woman President to be chosen, no 
one seemed to think it strange, because they were all used to 
having women take part in the government equally with men. 

“ No one ever saw a poor man or woman in the land, except 
a stray visitor from some other country, as I was. All were able 
to live in beautiful homes, surrounded by flowers, and to wear 
beautiful clothes. All the men and women except the very old 
and the sick worked for a few hours each day. After that they 
could do what they pleased. Some spent their leisure hours in 
the great public garden, listening to the band; others loved to 
climb the mountains or sail upon the great lakes. Then there 
were others who chose to paint pictures, or to write poems and 
operas, and books about important subjects. 

“Everyone seemed to be very happy. There were news¬ 
papers just as there are in other countries, but I could not fail to 
notice that they were not filled with horrible stories of crime and 
other evil things as our papers are. Instead of these things, 
there were records of good deeds and happy events. 

“ I asked my friends how the people of the land could be so 
rich and happy, and they told me that it was^ because they had 
learned how to govern themselves wisely. Instead of a few 
people rich and many people poor, they had learned to govern 
themselves so that all could be rich. All the people, through the 
government, owned the land, the mines, the factories, and the 
railways. They believed that all the people ought to be ashamed 
to have even one poor and mean house in a city; that all ought 
to feel ashamed to have one poor and ragged or hungry. 




OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 121 


“ The wise men of the country were always glad to find out 
how to improve conditions. They had found out ways by which 
many of the diseases which used to kill men, women, and little 
children were done away with altogether; they had found out 
how to avoid many of the dangers to life and limb which used to 
be so common as they are with us. 

“ Of course, I knew then why all the people were so beau¬ 
tiful. They were free from disease and very happy. They did 
not have to worry as people do in our country. There were no 
poor people sad because they could not get enough good food to 
eat and enough good clothes to wear, and no one had to feel sad 
and bitter from seeing poverty and misery which he could not 
help to remove. There were no poor people hating the rich, as 
with us, or being hated and scorned by the rich. 

“ From the homes of the people, the parks and the public 
buildings it was easy to see that all the people loved their work, 
and that they tried to make everything as beautiful and noble as 
they could. Men and women sang at their work as if it gave 
them joy. I learned to love the refrain of one of their songs, and 
wish that we could hear it in this country, sung by people at 
their work. The words are; 

“ Oh work for love 
And work with song, 

Thus shall your life 
And joy be long! ” 

"Above the portals of every public building, every school, 
and every college the motto of the country was carved deep in 






122 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


the stone. I shall never forget that motto, for it seems to me to 
describe the spirit of the people. This is the motto: 

WHEN ALL THE CITIZENS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE 
GOOD OF ALL, THERE IS JOY AND PEACE IN THE LAND. 

“Now, then, I have told you about the strangest land in all 
the world. How I got there I cannot tell you any more than I 
can tell you how I came back from there or how I return to it 
every little while. Perhaps some of you may go there some day 
and find yourselves in that happy garden of endless delight. I 
must go now, but first of all tell me if you know the name of the 
land I have been speaking about. Do you, George?” 

“I think, Peter, that you have been telling a fairy tale, like 
the story of the enchanted garden,” said George. 

“ What do you think the name of the land is, Agnes ? ” asked 
Old Peter then with a comical smile. 

“I think you have been telling us another parable, Peter,” 
said Agnes. “Your land is Imagination. When you forget all 
the pain and evil of life, and think only of what the world ought 
to be and what it will be when all the men and women are grown 
wise and good, then you enter your garden in the strange land. 
Is it not so?” 

For answer Old Peter kissed her upon the cheek and 
called her a good little Socialist. You see, all the beautiful and 
good things which Old Peter saw in his land of Imagination are 
things which the Socialists are trying to make real in our coun¬ 
try. 





OLD PETER’S STORY OF A STRANGE LAND 123 


QUESTIONS 

What was the name of the strange land which Old Peter told 
the children about? What do we mean by calling it so? Do 
Socialists want to make real all the good things Old Peter im¬ 
agined? Why? Can you tell some of the reasons why all the 
people were so beautiful ? What sort of a government did they 
have in the land—was it a monarchy, with a King for ruler, or a 
republic with a President? Who voted on election day? Who 
did the work? And what did the people do after their few hours 
of labor were over? Did some of the people have poor, mean 
homes, as they do in America to-day? Who owned the land, 
the mines, the factories, and the railways ? What did the wise 
men do ? Do you know what motto the people of the land carved 
over the doors of all the public buildings ? 







A SHORT CATECHISM 

I-WEALTH AND LABOR 


Q. What is wealth ? 

A. Wealth is the name that is given to all the good things 
of life which man uses to satisfy his wants and which can be sold. 

Q. Are not good things which are not sold—such as air and 
light and good health—called wealth ”P 

A. No. Only things which may be bought and sold are 
correctly called wealth. 

Q. How is wealth produced? 

A. Wealth is produced by the labor of human beings upon 
some object which is the gift of Nature. 

Q. What do you mean hy the labor of human beings upon 
some object which is the gift of Nature ? 

A. In a chair there are two elements. First, there is the 
wood which comes from a tree. That is a gift of Nature. Sec¬ 
ond, there is the labor which cut the wood and shaped it and 
formed the chair. 

Q. Can you give another example ? 

A. Yes. Coal is a good example. Nature places the coal 
in the ground. So long as the coal lies buried deep in the earth 
it is of no use to man. Only when it is dug up does it become 
useful. It is dug up by labor. So we have the two elements, 
man’s labor and Nature’s gift. 

Q. Does labor mean only the work that is done with the 
hands ? 


A SHORT CATECHISM 


125 


A. No. Some men work with their hands and other men 
work with their brains. 

Q. Is wealth produced by both kinds of labor ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Does all labor produce wealth ? 

A. No. Some labor is quite useless, both hand and brain 
labor. 

Q. Can you explain that? 

A. Yes. A man may work very hard pulling up a farmer’s 
growing wheat. Instead of making wealth, his labor destroys it. 
So a burglar may work his brains very hard to find out how to 
rob a house. His labor does not make any wealth. 

Q. What kinds of labor are useful in the world, then ? 

A. All labor of hand and brain which increases the stock of 
wealth, or adds to the joy and comfort of mankind, is useful. 

Q. What hinds of labor are useless ? 

A. All labor that is spent in destroying wealth and human 
life, as in war, is useless. So is all labor that is spent in trying 
to take away wealth from others, as by pickpockets and burglars. 
All labor spent on schemes to get others to give up their wealth 
to those who get up the schemes is useless. It does not produce 
anything. 

II-SOCIALISM 

Q. Who was the first to use the word “Socialism “ ? 

A. It is said that the word was first used by Robert Owen. 

Q. When was it first used ? 

A. In the year 1833. 




126 


SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Q. What did Robert Owen believe ? 

A. He believed that all people ought to live in colonies, or 
villages, in which all things would he owned by the people in 
common; that they should all share in the work to be done and 
that the wealth should be shared equally. 

Q. Were those the ideas which he called Socialism ? 

A. Yes, so far as they can be given in a few words. 

Q. Do the Socialists of the present day believe in these 
ideas? 

A. No. The Socialists of to-day are not trying to start col¬ 
onies; they do not want all things owned in common, and they do 
not want the wealth to be equally divided. 

Q. What do Socialists want then ? 

A. Socialists want freedom for all. They want, instead of 
equal wealth, equal opportunities for all human beings. 

Q. Do they want to abolish private property ? 

A. No. Socialists believe in private property and do not 
want to do away with it. But they believe that there are some 
things which ought not to be private property, because when they 
are owned by private individuals great evils result. 

Q. What do the Socialists want to do with such things, then ? 

A. They want to make social property of them, instead of 
having them owned as private property, as they are now. 

Q. What do you mean by “ social property ”? 

A. By social property we mean things which all the people, 
as citizens, own in common, through the government. 

Q. Can you name some kinds of social property which we 
have now ? 





A SHORT CATECHISM 


127 


A. Yes. The public streets are social property. No one 
owns the streets. They are owned by all the people, through the 
city government. All have a right to use them, the very poorest 
child as well as the richest man. That is social property. 

Q. Are there other kinds of social property? 

A. Yes. Very many. In most places the water supply is 
social property; in some cities the lighting system is. Public 
schools, libraries, parks, museums, art galleries, and many other 
institutions are public, or social, property. 

Q. What things do the Socialists want to make social property? 

A. All things which, when owned as private property, are 
used to benefit their owners at the expense of all the rest of the 
people ? 

Q. Can you not name some of those things ? 

A. Yes. The land, the mines, the forests, the railroads, the 
telegraphs, the oil wells, and the big factories. 

Q. Would that not destroy private property altogether? 

A. No. It would leave a great many things as private prop¬ 
erty. It would not prevent any person from owning anything 
which he could use himself, without injury to others in the city. 
To make social property of the factory in which clothes are made 
will not prevent people from owning their own clothes. 


Ill—REASONS FOR SOCIALISM 

Q. Why are you a Socialist ? 

A. I am a Socialist because I believe that the state which is 
called Socialism is the next step in human progress. 





128 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


Q. But why are you not content with things as they are ? 

A. Because there is a great deal of poverty, sorrow, and 
pain in the world which need not be if people were wise enough 
to change the laws. 

Q. What makes the needless poverty, sorrow, and pain ? 

A. The laws and customs which make it possible for a few 
to own the things which all depend upon for life—the things 
which Socialists want to make social property. 

Q. How does the ownership of these things by a few make 
needless poverty, sorrow and pain ? 

A. Because when a few own the means of life upon which 
all depend those who do not belong to the class of owners must 
work for wages and make the owners rich. They have to toil 
hard and give most of what they produce to the owners and re¬ 
main poor themselves. 

Q. How are the owners of the things upon which all depend 
for life made rich ? 

A. The people who do not belong to the class of owners, 
and who have to work for wages, must produce more than they 
get in wages. The value they produce which they are not paid 
for is what the owners get. When there are many who work 
for wages, the owners get rich without working. i 

Q. How would this be stopped by making social property of 
the means of life ? 

A. Because then there would be no idle class to be kept 
rich by the toil of others. All would have to do useful work, 
and instead of the idle getting rich and the workers getting poor, 
all would work and get what they produce. 






A SHORT CATECHISM 


129 


Q. Do you mean that each man would get just what he 
could produce? 

A. No. Not quite that. Where people work together as 
they do in our great factories you cannot tell exactly how much 
each one produces. But it would be possible to share the wealth 
produced more justly. 

Q. How would those who could not work, the aged and the 
sick, be provided for then ? 

A. They could be cared for by their friends, as at present, 
or out of the public funds. 

Q. What is the present system of society called ? 

A. It is called “Capitalism.” The things upon which the 
life of the people depends, such as land, factories, machinery, 
and so on, are called “ capital,” and the people who own them are 
called “capitalists.” 

Q. What is the difference between Capitalism and Social¬ 
ism? 

A. There are very many differences. Under capitalism 
things etre made not because it is well and good that they should 
be made, but because the capitalists can make a profit. Under 
Socialism profit would be done away with, and things would be 
made because they were needed. 

Q. Can you name some things which are made for profit 
under the present system which would not be made under Social¬ 
ism? 

A. Many working-people are to-day engaged in making guns 
to kill people with. This is not because they want to kill any¬ 
body, or help to kill them, but because they must work for wages 





130 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


in order to live. The capitalist has the guns made simply be¬ 
cause he can sell them at a profit. Under Socialism we should 
not have such industries. 

Q. Can you give other examples ? 

A, Yes. Many men and women are employed making poor 
things, such as poor shoes, poor clothing, and impure food, not 
because they do not know how to make better things, but because 
the capitalist can make more profit by selling the poor things 
than the good ones. Under Socialism things would not be made 
for profit. 

Q. Would Socialism do away with war? 

A. Yes. Nearly all wars are caused by the desire of the 
capitalists to make profit. All such wars would be done away 
with entirely. 

Q. Would there be strikes and labor troubles under the So^ 
cialist system? 

A. No. We should not have a class of capitalists on the 
©ne hand trying to get as much profit as possible out of the 
labor of the workers, and paying as little wages as possible, and 
a class of wage-workers upon the other hand trying to get as 
much wages as possible and to keep down the profits of the 
capitalists. 

Q. Would Socialism do away with capital*? 

A. Socialism would not do away with the things which are 
called capital to-day, but it would do away with their ownership 
by a class of men called capitalists. 






A SHORT CATECHISM 


131 


IV-OTHER QUESTIONS 

Q. Has Socialism ever been tried? 

A. No. Socialism has not been tried, simply because we 
have not reached that stage of society as yet. But the principle 
of Socialism is seen in the social property we already have in the 
public schools, the public streets, parks, and other things. 

Q. Who will rule under Socialism ? 

A. The people will rule under Socialism. Every man and 
every woman will have an equal voice in the making of the laws 
and the election of the government. 

Q. What will Socialism do with all the people who to-day 
are doing useless work ? 

A. It will provide them with useful work, and they will be 
happier than they are now, because all people are happier when 
they are doing good work than when they are doing work that is 
not good. 

Q. How do Socialists expect to change things ? 

A. By getting a majority of the people to vote for the 
change. 

Q. Is it the duty of every Socialist then to vote for the So¬ 
cialist Party ? 

A. It is the duty of every Socialist who can vote to vote 
for the Socialist Party. But many Socialists cannot vote. This 
is true of women more than of men, because women are not 
allowed to vote in most places. 

Q. Is there nothing that women can do to help the cause of 
Socialism, then? 






132 SOCIALIST READINGS FOR CHILDREN 


A. Yes. They can do a great many things. They can 
help to make people understand Socialism by talking to them 
about it, by giving them books and papers about it, and in many 
other ways. 

Q. What can boys and girls do ? 

A. Boys and girls cannot do very much until they grow 
older. But they can do something. They can help their older 
comrades by carrying leaflets and books to people, and in many 
other ways. They can also learn about the subject now, so that 
when they are men and women they will be able to take the 
places of the men and women who are doing all the hard work 
for the cause now. 









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